


The Bastard Princess

by LiannaVine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Related, Character Death, Childhood, Chiyome Hyuuga, Developing Friendships, F/M, First Shinobi War, Gen, Hashirama as Jichuuriki, Heroes are no Heroes, Hyuuga Clan-centric, Konoha's history, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Madara as Jinchuuriki, Major Original Character(s), OCxCanon relationships, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Pre-Canon, Second Shinobi War, Strong Female Characters, Suicide, Team Hashirama, Team Hiruzen, Third Shinobi War, Tragedy, Unrequited Love, different timeline, longfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 70,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21750661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiannaVine/pseuds/LiannaVine
Summary: Chiyome Hyuuga's mother is the future head of the Hyuuga clan. Or at least she used to be. When Chiyome is born, her mother has to join the branch family. Chiyome is a bastard child, someone who has no place among the main family. The identity of her father is only known to her mother, who is set on taking his name with her to  the grave.Follows the life of Chiyome and major events taking place in Konoha between the time of its founding and the ending of the 3rd Shinobi War. Alternate Universe. Changes to Jinchuurikis and Bloodlines. Mostly focuses on OC characters that fill in gaps of missing characters.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Year 0

The day Chiyome was born was the same day her mother received the caged-bird seal on her forehead. She was born without complications, after a relaxed and healthy pregnancy, no day early or too late.

Being born into a wealthy and strong clan living in the first Hidden Village, founded by Hashirama Senju himself, she had been given the perfect start into life. Someone like her was destined for greatness.

If only there wasn’t that one thing that cast long shadows on her still so short life. The one thing that blocked her off from the sun and its warm light.

“I’m asking you one last time, Akari. Who is the father?” Chiyome’s grandfather barely looked at her, his first granddaughter. There was no love in his eyes, no pride.

Akari pressed the child closer to her chest. “I’m her mother. That’s all that matters.”

But there was so much more in this world that mattered. Akari Hyuuga was the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. She’d been raised a princess, the future head of the main family. Firstborn. A prodigy. But there was no way one of the noble clans in Konoha would allow a bastard child to belong to the main family. And while Akari had never directly stated it, her silence was enough for her father to draw conclusions.

Chiyome was no Hyuuga. She was a bastard child.

The head of the Hyuuga left the room again, leaving only Akari’s two guardians with her. One of them was her younger brother, Haruto. He wore a bright smile on his lips, his eyes focused on the little girl. She was sleeping soundly in her mother’s arms. But was he happy that his niece had been born healthy, or was it the happiness that he was to be the new clan’s head now?

“I never knew there was a way to undo the seal,” her cousin said, looking at Haruto and the seal on his forehead. She’d been born a branch member as well.

“Please, do not speak of such matters in here. This little baby shouldn’t have to worry herself with these misdeeds just yet.” Akari herself wore a soft smile on her lips, despite knowing what awaited her. Her father would take everything away from her. All her entitlements and freedoms. But he couldn’t take away her child. And Akari was ready to give away anything for this little girl. She’d known the moment she saw her.

“My apologies, Lady Akari.” Her cousin bowed.

Akari wasn’t exactly sad about losing her guardians. People went on and on about branch members being robbed of their freedom. But what kind of freedom did the main family have when they weren’t even allowed to fall in love?

“Chiyome is a beautiful name, Lady Akari.”

“Thank you.” Akari couldn’t help a smile. It was not a common name among members of the Hyuuga clan. It was something new, something distinct. “It’s a present from her father.”

She could tell that both her cousin and brother were hoping for her to go on and reveal more information about that mysterious man in her life. But Akari kept her quiet again. His name would never pass her lips.

* * *

.

* * *

Haruto was sitting on a little wooden bench in front of their house. His niece was sleeping in his arms. The Hyuuga compound was located in the back of Konoha, close to the rock wall with Hashirama Senju’s face carved in the stone. Their compound was like a little village itself, something that held true for all bigger clans’ districts. They had joined forces in Konoha and swore to become one big family. Yet it turned out that most clans still appreciated their privacy, and no Hyuuga wanted an Uchiha living right next to them.

So their district was fenced off with another, smaller wall and lots of trees. There was only one road that connected it to the inner part of Konoha. The children had their own little foot paths that led through the stand of trees as short cuts, but Haruto’s father would always scold them for using them. As a clan’s head, he expected orderliness. One was supposed to use the established roads, not make new ones.

Some of his cousins were on their way back from town. They passed through the arched gates, and walked into his direction once they saw him.

“Lord Haruto.” They bowed.

His cousins had never bowed to him, despite him being the son of the clan’s head. But they did now that his caged bird seal was gone.

He spotted a sudden discomfort in their eyes as they realised he was holding Chiyome in his arms. One smiled awkwardly, saying what a cute child she was. But it was obviously a lie. They had spent over a decade fawning over Akari, knowing she was going to become their next leader eventually. His little girl destroyed all their efforts. Now they had to start anew.

“Lord Haruto, have you heard the news yet? Madara Uchiha is back in Konoha. We saw him entering the Hokage building.” His cousin was unusually stiff talking to him.

Haruto had grown up with them, played with them in the dirt. He couldn’t appreciate their new attitude towards him.

“This whole marriage between the Uchiha and the Senju is an insult to our family. The Uchiha are given too many privileges,” another said.

“What do you expect? They are the co-founders after all.”

Their stiffening increasing as they realised Haruto was smiling at them.

“We are terribly sorry. We shouldn’t discuss our family matters this openly. I’m sure your Lord father does what’s best for our clan.”

He wanted to answer, give his own opinion on the matter, and make sure they felt save to talk to him about anything. But his sister’s voice stopped him.

“Our clan should not be our sole priority anymore,” she said, stepping closer. Riku was following her. He was no Hyuuga, but her teammate and friend.

None of them heard her approach, despite her wearing wooden sandals. All of his cousins immediately bowed to her, still greeting her as ‘Princess Akari’. 

“We are all one big family now, and we should act with Konoha in mind. A strong bond between the Senju and Uchiha can only benefit us all.”

“You are right, Princess Akari.” Another bow.

Haruto couldn’t help but roll his eyes. His father had stripped her off that title, but Akari still owned it. He couldn’t blame his cousins. She was the personification of nobleness. Haruto himself couldn’t picture her as anything but a princess. She set a high bar for him to live up to.

She slowly walked over to take Chiyome into her arms. She was wearing a kimono, and her hair was tied behind her head, decorated with just the right amount of hair clips. Only the seal on her forehead disclosed that she belonged to the branch family now. And she wore the seal openly, no strain of hair covering it. No Hyuuga ever walked around showing their seal to others. They always hid it behind forehead protectors or hairstyles. But Akari did not. She wore it with pride.

“Little Chiyo-chan is getting cuter every day.” Riku softly stroked her nose. “I hope Sakumo and her grow up to be great friends.”

Akari smiled at her child. “Don’t call her that. Her name is Chiyome.”

Haruto frowned at how close Riku and his sister were. Their shoulders touched as Riku kept running his finger over Chiyome’s cheek. And Haruto thought what everyone had to be thinking in that moment: If Riku was Chiyome’s father, it would be scandalous. He was a farmer, married, had a son. And his sister was the type of girl who shouldered blame for others. She would never name him.

Haruto stood up. He wanted Riku gone from his compound. But he was Akari’s guest.

“Don’t worry,” he said to his cousins, who were carefully eyeing both Riku and Akari. “This marriage will only hurt the Uchiha. They will lose their princess, giving her away to the Senju. Inori has inherited their strongest Sharingan from her father and uncle. Her child will be neither Uchiha nor Senju. It will have half the powers from either, but nothing whole. It won’t have a pure Sharingan, if it will inherit a Sharingan at all. The same holds true for Tobirama. Your wife should know all about that, Riku.”

“Haruto!” There was sharpness in Akari’s voice and face.

Haruto immediately felt the urge to take back his words and apologise. Going against his sister was nothing he was used to. But he forced himself to continue. “Why? I’m right, am I not? The Senju have ruined their bloodline. It’s getting weaker and weaker, and yet they continue to marry outside their clan. Riku might have married a girl that could call herself a Senju, but she’s none. Her bloodline’s lost, and the same will happen to Tobirama and Inori’s children.”

His cousins awkwardly shifted weight from one foot to the other. They knew which side they were supposed to take in case this escalated. But the other side scared them more.

Akari was staring her brother down. No one could read what was on her mind with her face being like a stone.

Riku only smiled. “I’m just one poor farmer’s boy. Don’t know much about bloodlines, but at least I got to marry the woman I love.”

“Love won’t help you much once Konoha’s clans have become too weak to defend themselves against other villages.”

Riku smirked, scratching his white hair. “I don’t think I need a bloodline to beat you.”

Akari shifted her attention to her daughter, carefully lifting her to her chest to change her position.

Haruto was fuming, ready to defend his honour in a fight.

“Let’s end this conversation. I need to tend to my daughter.”

But Haruto wasn’t going to let her decide that this was the end. He went after them, going for Riku. Before his hand could grab Riku’s arm, Akari was between them, blocking him.

“Stop acting like a little child,” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. “You are going to make a fool of yourself.” She took a step away from him again and bowed.

It was the first time his sister bowed to him.

She threw a short smile at their cousins, who in returned bowed again, and left.

* * *

.

* * *

  
When Chiyome was six months old, she was still one of the biggest talking points among the shinobi of Konoha, and even the civilians. Her and the marriage between Inori Uchiha and Tobirama Senju. Chiyome’s hair was growing slowly, but it was bright. Almost white. Of course, it was still baby hair, and baby hair could take on the weirdest colours, but that didn’t keep people from guessing.

It didn’t help that Akari’s former teammate Riku had white hair himself, and had taken it on himself to fill the missing father role in Chiyome’s life. Even his wife started to become doubtful.

Riku felt slightly out of place when he arrived at the location of Inori and Tobirama’s wedding with Chiyome in his arms. Everyone’s eyes were on them.

“Why don’t you go and find Akari to give her Chiyome back?” His wife’s voice was filled with bitterness. She was holding Sakumo in her arms, who was pushing left and right because he wanted to walk on his own.

“Are you angry with me, Kumiko?” His wife had not seemed satisfied with him for quite a while, but she never chose to explain herself. Riku was left wondering about the reason. Maybe she thought their house was too small, maybe he wasn’t honourable enough after all, maybe she missed her big clan compound.

Kumiko looked around. The wedding was being held at the Fire Shrine, Konoha’s main shrine. It was not the biggest, but was surrounded by beautiful gardens, and the main shrine that was accessible to the public, as most shrines belonged to some clan. Bride and groom had decided that they wanted to get married on neutral grounds, with every person in Konoha allowed to join. Their marriage symbolised the final joining of not only Senju and Uchiha, but all of Konoha. But the engaged couple was nowhere to be seen yet. Kumiko could see the Sarutobi clan, the Nara, the Akimichi, and so many more. Her eyes stopped when she found the Hyuuga members.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Riku said again.

“I’m not angry.” She didn’t look at him. “I’m annoyed.”

“Why?”

She glanced at him. “You really can’t tell, huh?” He didn’t say anything, so she continued. “I’m tired of people talking behind my back, about my husband and his bastard child.”

Riku stared at his wife in disbelieve. “Are you serious?” He grabbed her arm to pull her out of sight of the other guests as best as possible. “What do you expect me to do? Abandon Akari and let her deal with all this alone? She’s a single mom, her family disowned her, and who knows what’s up with the guy that knocked her up.” He tried his best to keep his voice a whisper. “Do you think she enjoyed any of this? You think I like how this all turned out?”

“There is no reason for you to be a father for that child, unless –“ she stopped herself. Chiyome was tugging at Riku’s hair, a bright smile on her face.

“Unless?” His wife didn’t have to say any more. He knew the problem. “Unless I’m the father? How could you possibly think that, Kumiko?”

Kumiko stared at the ground. She let go of Sakumo, who was starting to get heavy. It was an additional weight she couldn’t carry right now.

“You can’t possibly think I would let Akari take all the blame herself if this was my child.” He covered Chiyome’s ear with his hand, pressing her head to his chest. The girl was too young yet to understand anything. But he still didn’t want her to hear these words.

“It’s not like you could to anything about it. Her fate would still be the same.”

“At least I could own up to it! You think I’m such a coward that I would watch Akari get disowned while pretending I’m just the nice uncle to take care of my daughter after all? And have all those people talk behind my back? You think that’s who I am?”

“What do I know?” she yelled at him. “I just know that I am sick of this. I want this to stop. You are _my_ husband.” She watched their son run around the temple complex. It was hard to believe he was already this fast with his little legs. Her life surely would be everything she ever asked for. If only it didn’t include Akari and Chiyome.

“Yes, I am your husband. And you are the woman I love. I’m doing my hardest to be a good husband to you, the best you could have. But I’m also Akari’s friend, and I can’t stop other people from talking.” His wife didn’t look at him. He took a deep breath. “I’ll look for Akari. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  
Riku looked around the temple complex and halls, but he couldn’t find Akari. Instead, he found his other teammate and bride.

“You’re looking awfully beautiful today.” He stepped into the small room. Inori was sitting in front of a window, looking outside. “Are you hiding in here?”

She smiled at him. “I just needed a moment to think.”

“Oh dear, do I smell second thoughts?”

This time she laughed. “I’ve thought this through so many times. This would rather be my 500th thoughts.” She looked at Chiyome. “Are you looking for Akari?”

He nodded. “She said she still had stuff to do today and couldn’t take Chiyome with her. And you know she doesn’t like leaving her alone with her family. So I took her, but I thought she’d be here by now.”

Inori shook her head. “I haven’t seen her yet. I wonder if she’ll be alright. There are so many people here today. I really couldn’t be upset if she chose to stay absent.”

Riku sat down next to her. He’d still worked at his parent’s farm when he first met both Akari and Inori, and Hashirama. Back then he was cutting wood with wind style jutsu. He didn’t know the word jutsu yet, but he knew that cutting wood that way was faster and more convenient. He had no idea just what kind of famous shinobi had approached him that day. Two princesses and the God of Shinobi himself. He’d never heard of them, much less seen them. So he greeted them with a simply ‘yo’, which had the two young girls giggling.

“Do you love him?”

The question felt weird. He knew that love didn’t mean much in this world, that love wasn’t the reason to marry. Especially not when you were the head of a clan. He bit his lips. The more he thought about it, the more obvious the answer became. He wished he could take it back. How could she possibly love Tobirama? He had killed her father after all.

“I like him,” she answered. “More than I thought I would. I like him enough to marry him. He’s a good man.”

Riku wasn’t sure if she was telling him or herself.

The door opened again, and Akari came dashing into the room. That is, as much as Akari could dash. She always moved slow and composed, with her body wrapped tightly into kimono robes.

“Here you are! I was looking for both of you. Is everything alright?” She took Chiyome from Riku. The girl was happy to see her mother, but then again, the girl was always happy.

“Sure, Inori is just having her 500th doubt.”

“Excuse me? I’m not!” she protested.

“What do you mean, doubts? You are not going to cancel the wedding, are you?”

“No! Of course not. Riku is just being an idealistic fool again.”

Riku couldn’t help a frown. They’d talked this through many times. And he knew he couldn’t bring it up again. Inori was already aware that he didn’t like the idea of her marrying Tobirama Senju. He was their teacher’s brother, much older, and according to Riku, he had a stick up his ass.

“I’m sure Tobirama will make a fine husband,” Akari tried to encourage her friend. They’d been friends ever since their families moved to Konoha. “Hashirama-sensei is such a nice person, I doubt his brother can be much different.”

Inori stood up to have a better look at Akari. “There’s something black on your cheek.” She rubbed her thumb on her friend’s cheek to clean it up.

“Careful, don’t get your kimono dirty.” Akari pulled back.

Inori stopped, and her eyes fell on Akari’s. “Were you… crying?”

Riku looked up at his two teammates. He loved Konoha. But he also hated it. He hated that one of his friends had to marry an old, stiff guy, and he hated that his other friend was pushed away by her own father for getting pregnant. Sometimes he wanted to take them both and run away with them, take them back to his farm and parents, and live a life far away from shinobi policies. People made fun of him for not belonging to a clan, and for founding his own clan, which currently consisted of no more than three members. But Riku was glad about it.

“What happened?” he asked. Despite all this, he had never seen either of his teammates cry.

“Nothing, really. My eyes are just all watery today. Chiyome kept me up all night.”

“If anyone of those many people out there said anything shitty, you know I wouldn’t hesitate to beat them up, right? Just give me a name. I don’t care who it is, even if it’s Sasuke Sarutobi or some other stupid clan’s head.” Chiyome was reaching for him, so he gave her a finger to hold onto. She wrapped her small hand tightly around it.

The door opened once more, and both Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju entered.

“What are you doing in here?” Madara asked in a harsh tone. “You realise everyone is waiting already, Inori. Where are your manners?”

Inori immediately apologised to her uncle.

“Look at the three of you.” Hashirama wore a proud smile on his face. “I’m so proud of you all. Here, I wanted to give this to you after the wedding, Inori. But since you are all here… I got some for you two as well.”

“Is this… a lottery ticket?” Inori looked at the small capsule.

Hashirama burst into laughter. “I know you already got the main prize in my brother. But, you know, maybe you’ll get another one!”

Madara grabbed his niece’s hand. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe someone like you is running this village and it hasn’t gone south yet. This wedding was supposed to start already.”

“Right, right. But first Tobirama wanted to talk to the bride.” Hashirama opened his own lottery capsule. It was a blank.

“Why would he want to talk to her beforehand?” Madara said, narrowing his eyes at Hashirama.

“Who knows. But he’s waiting in the main hall.”

“I thought the wedding was supposed to start now. Isn’t it discourteous to let everyone wait?”

Madara looked at the girl. “At least the Hyuuga clan is still raising their children right. She’s correct, Hashirama. It is rude.”

Hashirama only laughed it away. “They won’t die waiting five more minutes. Come on, hurry up, Inori.”

Inori left the room, as fast as her wedding kimono allowed. It was all white, with both the Uchiha and the Senju symbol on its back, and the symbol of Konoha embroidered on the front. Inori had turned into a walking figurehead.

“I better hope your brother is serious about all this.” There was a big frown on Madara’s forehead. “I swear, if he doesn’t treat her with the highest respect she deserves, I will – “

Hashirama clapped his back. “Relax. You know my brother is a nice guy, right?” He dragged Madara back outside with him, leaving Riku and Akari alone.

They both dropped their gaze.

Riku had promised to return to Kumiko as soon as he found Akari. She would be furious again. But he was sure Kumiko had joined her relatives by now. Where was Akari going to? Who would she watch the ceremony with?

“Should we go outside too?” he asked. He loved Kumiko. But Akari needed him more.

* * *

  
Everyone watched carefully as Inori Uchiha and Tobirama Senju, bride and groom, stepped in front of them. But no one expected the wife to inform everyone that the wedding was cancelled. There was a long moment of silence, followed with whispers everywhere. And for the first time in six months, every single person in Konoha had forgotten about Chiyome.

Riku and Akari were standing next to Hashirama and Madara, a bit further away from other clans. If Akari was the black sheep of the Hyuuga clan, Madara was her Uchiha equivalent. With him being the co-founder of Konoha and head of the Uchiha, every conflict that arose between the Uchiha and the Senju, or any other clan in Konoha, was blamed on him. Whenever there was tension between the Uchiha and someone else, there was tension between Madara and that person. Him and Hashirama founded Konoha together, after years of fighting, but people weren’t ready to accept them both as equal allies. So they chose sides. The majority chose Hashirama.

Madara had done what he thought best, and left Konoha. He travelled the world for years, protected Konoha from the shadows, and only came back for his niece’s wedding. A wedding he didn’t like. There was no way on earth he would marry off his little niece to her father’s murderer. But Inori had said again and again that this was her will. She wanted to unite their clans forever. She was ready to set an example, to be a role-model. She would forgive her fathers murderer, marry him, love him. In return, Hashirama promised his student would become the next Hokage. She would be an Uchiha, and a Senju, and a Hokage.

“What is this supposed to mean?” Madara looked at Hashirama. He was furious. If this was any kind of joke, it was the worst.

Hashirama, for once, couldn’t laugh at the situation. He was just as irritated as Madara.

Inori kept talking. Her voice was calm, yet it reached even the people standing farthest away from her. She explained that Tobirama and herself had both come to the mutual conclusion that they were not a fitting couple, and thus there would be no wedding.

“But that doesn’t mean that there is no celebration today,” Inori said.

Tobirama stood next to her. He didn’t say anything, but he still faced his guests, showing his agreement with the occasional nod.

“We all came here to celebrate the union between Senju and Uchiha, and the union of all clans in Konoha. We are all one big family. And we want to still celebrate this today.”

Inori’s speech went on, but Akari’s thoughts drifted off.

Chiyome started crying. She dandled her, trying to soothe her. The people around them didn’t even realise Chiyome was present.

Their eyes were all on Inori.

Chiyome kept crying.


	2. Year 1

When Chiyome was one year old, Tobirama Senju founded the Konoha Military Police Force in Hashirama's name. He assigned the Uchiha clan as head of the organisation, giving them judicial power over Konoha's citizens and clans. It was a direct reaction to the failed engagement between him and Inori Uchiha.

But public opinion was split. Tobirama and Inori had become the new centre of attention and rumours in the village. And giving Inori's family more privileges did not help.

Some clans, the Hyuuga in particular, resented the idea that the Uchiha could hold power over them. And they resented Tobirama Senju for giving them this power.

Other clans interpreted it as cheap amends made by Tobirama for cancelling the wedding. They saw Tobirama as the sole reason the union between Uchiha and Senju failed, and blamed it on the hate he held towards them. They believed he detested them too much to ever marry an Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha strongly belonged to the latter group. His niece had spent too many evenings convincing him to agree to their marriage. To Madara, there was no way the decision to cancel the wedding last second was a mutual one.

But either way, Tobirama's reputation suffered among the Konoha clans.  
Akari was standing in front of the Hokage office, Chiyome in her arms. She could hear Inori's angry voice through the door. It was a constant switch between pleading and accusing. It seemed like Inori couldn't quite decide which tactic to use, something that was out of character for her. But Akari knew it was because of Madara's presence. There was no person alive that Inori respected more.

Chiyome was happily babbling unintelligible words. It almost sounded like she was singing.

Akari couldn't help but smile at her daughter. She loved how carefree children were. How pure. But Chiyome was also the reason why Akari wasn't in there together with Inori. It left a bad taste in her mouth that she couldn't support her friends as much as she used to. First of all, she was a mother now, no shinobi. Chiyome and her were always together. Wherever Akari would go, she would take Chiyome. So a battlefield was no viable destination for Akari.

She let Chiyome down so the girl could walk around the hallway. Her feet were clumsy still, yet she never fell. Akari watched her investigate her surroundings, though she didn't stray too far away from her mother.

After a while, Chiyome came running back to her mother, and hid behind her legs. Akari wondered whom she'd spotted, and soon Takuma came into view.

He was carrying Tsunade in his arms, and stopped as soon as his eyes fell on Akari. For a moment, she thought he'd turn around again and leave.

"Are you waiting for my father?" he asked instead.

Akari shook her head. "For Inori. She's in there with him and Madara."

Takuma nodded. Tsunade started kicking the air. She wanted to be let down and play with Chiyome. Takuma reluctantly let go of her.

Tsunade ran at Chiyome, who only hid more behind her mother's legs.

"Tsunade is really growing up fast," Akari noted. She was only a few weeks older than Chiyome, but already half a head taller.

"Yes, she really loves food." Takuma managed a short smile, but his eyes focused on the two children.

Tsunade grabbed Chiyome's hair to try and pull her out from her hiding spot. Chiyome instantly started crying.

"Stop that, Tsunade!" Takuma took her into his arms again. His daughter complained vociferously. "Sorry, guess I'll come back later." He turned around and left to where he came from.

"Don't start crying just because someone pulled your hair." Akari scolded her daughter instead of soothing her. But it had the same effect and Chiyome promptly stopped crying. Only big pouty lips remained.

The door opened. Inori stepped out first, followed by Madara and Hashirama.

"I'm telling you again, Inori. We Uchiha are not joining this war. I built this village to have peace, to know that my loved one's are safe. Fighting someone else's fight is not something I will agree with."

"But uncle, Riku is my teammate. My friend. He is like family to me. Don't you always say family is the most important and has to be protected?"

"It is. Which is why you, of all people, are not going. I promised Izuna I would protect you with my life right before he took his last breath. I will not risk you getting hurt because of Hashirama's foolish sense of justice."

Inori looked at Hashirama. It was a last, desperate try. But Hashirama only shrugged with his shoulders.

Madara's eyes fell on Akari, but he didn't say anything. Akari had never been quite sure if he liked her or not. But then again, it was hard to tell if Madara liked anyone at all, with the exception of Inori and Hashirama.

The two men left together.

"I can't believe it." Inori started ranting as soon as she and Akari left the building. "Apparently I'm supposed to be the clan's head and future Hokage, but I don't even get to decide my own life. My uncle is treating me like a little child!"

"I'm sure he's just worried."

"Of course, he's worried. But he can't go on and make decisions for me and the clan whenever he's here. How long does he intend to be worried? Do I still have to listen to him once I'm Hokage?" She paced left and right, before coming to a stop. "If I ever become Hogake that is."

"I thought that was the plan?"

"It was. But I feel like now that I'm not engaged to Tobirama anymore… not even Hashirama wants to see me become Hokage. It has always been supposed to be Tobirama. Or maybe even Takuma. But not me."

"Don't say that, Inori. You are still young. Of course they are not planning on announcing you the next Hokage any time soon. It's not like Hashirama-sensei is that old and going to step down soon either. Just be patient."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have a clan to run. No one's expecting anything of you anymore." There was bitterness in her voice.

"Is that a good thing? You still have the opportunity to change both your clan's ways and Konoha."

"Maybe I should also get myself pregnant."

Akari stopped. She had been judged for her pregnancy and child from the very first day. It pained her to hear these words from her best friend as well. "Maybe you should have just married Tobirama," she snapped back at her. "You could have had it all, being a clan's head, Hokage, and pregnant."

A moment of silence followed, and contrary to Akari's expectation, Inori didn't say another word. She felt bad for her words all of a sudden. Akari knew well enough under how much pressure Inori was. And she also knew how it felt like when the whole village was whispering behind one's back.

They quietly walked next to each other to Riku's house. Akari knew there was more bothering her friend. Inori wasn't as light-hearted as she normally was and the cheeky know-it-all smirk on her lips was missing. But she didn't say another word. Not until they arrived at Riku's home.

Akari was about to knock, when Inori reached for her hand and stopped here.

"You don't think I'd make a good Hokage either, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" The question took Akari aback.

"Don't play dull. You wouldn't want me to become Hokage either. If this was your decision, I'm sure you'd choose Tobirama too, wouldn't you?"

Akari didn't like how Inori had to make this all personal. She understood her friend was angry, but she didn't want to get involved in this. "Tobirama runs this village. He founded the Academy, the police. He has been Hashirama-sensei's advisor all these years and managed to keep him and Konoha from plunging into debts. I do think he would make a good Hokage. But that doesn't mean I don't want you to be Hokage."

"You avoided my question nicely, like I expected of the Hyuuga princess. But really, it's fine if you think me unfit. I do too, honestly. It's a fact I'm only even considered because I'm an Uchiha. And not for the values my clan holds or my own abilities, but simply to lessen the conflict between Uchiha and Senju. I knew all along. And I was fine with it. But it's all such a mess now. I can't become Hokage without Tobirama by my side."

"Why don't you two… reconsider the marriage?"

Inori smiled and knocked on Riku's door. "It's too late anyway," she said. "My uncle already chose someone else."

Riku opened the door before Akari could even show some surprise. Sakumo was glancing through his legs and happily called Chiyome's name.

Inori put on a smile again. "Where have you been all day long? I thought we'd hang out together." She waited for him to step aside and invite them in. But he didn't.

"Sorry, could we… talk later?" he eventually said. "I want to spend my last day with Kumi before leaving."

Inori's smile vanished again as soon as it had appeared. She turned around, and simply left without saying another word.

Akari and Riku stared after her.

"What's up with her?" Riku had to fight back the urge to run after his friend. He'd promised Kumiko to spend this day with her, not with his two teammates.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's fine." Akari had problems holding Chiyome still. The little girl reached for Riku and wanted to be held by him instead. He was her favourite person, which was due to him always spoiling her.

The girl started crying when she realised that her mother left Riku again to go after Inori. She cried until they reached a pub, and her mother told her to be quiet. She pouted, hiding her face in her mother's dress.

Inori was already sitting at the bar, ordering drinks. Akari glanced over all the men sitting in there, drinking and smoking. It was no place she wanted to be, but she still entered.

"This is not like you, Inori." She didn't sit down. "Drinking won't make life any easier."

"Why? This is how sensei deals with stress too, isn't it?" She downed her first drink. "Does anyone here have some cards or dice? Let's play some games and do some betting."

"Is this about your new fiancé? Who is he?"

"He is not my fiancé yet. I haven't agreed to the marriage and uncle promised me not to push me into anything I don't want, but…" She ordered another drink. "I don't think I have much choice, honestly. His name is Setsuna. He's from my clan."

"Do you like him?"

Inori shrugged her shoulders. "I'd say I don't dislike him. He's my age at least, but rather focused on our clan's affairs. This is like the opposite statement of marrying a Senju. Yet it's what my clan expects of me."

Akari didn't know what to tell her friend. She was raised the old way, the traditional way. All her life she'd known that one day, her father would choose a husband from her clan for her, like fathers and mothers had done for their children for centuries and longer. And Akari always knew that when that day would come, she'd accept. But when it had finally come, she couldn't accept anymore, because Chiyome already existed.

The old Akari would tell Inori to marry Setsuna. To do whatever her uncle asked of her. But the Akari holding Chiyome in her arms couldn't. She had no right.

So Akari simply put her arms around her friend. Chiyome copied her gesture and wrapped her short arms around Inori too.

"Sometimes… I'm jealous of you and Riku. Especially Riku. I wish I was just a normal farmer's girl and could marry a person I love, a person I would want to spend my last day with before going on missions. And even you…" Inori suddenly started giggling to herself. "Even _you_ managed to have some fun for once and ended up with a child." Her giggling evolved into loud laughter.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, Akari. What were the odds that you of all people ended up with an illegitimate child." Inori was still laughing.

"It still baffles me as well," someone said.

They all turned around to find Riku standing behind them. They asked him in unison what he was doing there.

"You looked so upset, Inori. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

For a glimpse of a moment, Akari thought Inori would break into tears. But she quickly put a smile on once more and continued joking.

"I'm absolutely fine, just a little bit stressed. But as you can see, I'm drowning my stress in drinks, so it's all good again." She raised her cup at him.

Riku sat down next to her and ordered a drink himself.

"Really, you can go back to Kumiko. I'm sorry I worried you."

"Oh, I spend half the day with Kumiko already. It's only fair you two get the other half." He clicked glasses with Inori.

"Great, now that Riku has joined us, shall we change locations? This really isn't the best place for Chiyome. And Riku, you also shouldn't be drinking the day before going on a mission."

Akari watched her two friends exchange looks and roll their eyes at her.

"Come on, Akari. Let's have some fun today. We know you aren't as stiff as you look like." Inori glanced at Chiyome with a big smirk on her lips.

Akari was now the one to roll her eyes.

"You know, it's really funny actually." Riku took a closer look at Inori. "If anything, I would have expected you to be the one with the illegitimate child."

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean? You think I am that kind of girl?" Inori said with some feigned dismay.

"What, no! But… look at Akari."

They both turned their head to Akari again, who was staring back at them with a blank face. She sat completely straight, like she always did. Every strand of her hair knew its place, and her traditional dress fell perfectly all the way to the ground. She frowned at them before taking another sip of her tea. Inori and Riku couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Are you two seriously using me to your own amusement while I am sitting right next to you?" Akari protested, but she wasn't angry. She was glad to see them both laughing. These two, and Chiyome, were the only family she had left.

* * *

.

* * *

The next day, Hashirama met with a selected team early in the morning. They were leaving for Suna, who was being threatened by Kumogakure. And since Konoha and Suna had long decided to sign a peace treaty with each other, making them officially friends, it was only natural for Hashirama to come to their aid when they asked for help.

Akari and Inori stood next to Riku and his family, who looked like he was more asleep and awake. Riku was wearing the forehead protector with Konoha's symbol, something he only wore when going on missions.

"I told you two those last ten drinks were a bad idea. But you didn't listen." Akari watched as Sakumo was singing a song for Chiyome. Most words he was muttering didn't fit the lyrics, but at least the melody was correct.

Riku and Kumiko stood arm in arm. Kumiko was holding onto him tightly. Her eyes kept switching between Akari and Inori. She never said anything to either of them, but Akari knew that she didn't like them much. She couldn't blame her though.

Hashirama was talking to the other members of their mission. They mostly consisted of clan leaders and their family. His son Takuma was with them as well. Only the Uchiha were missing. Akari's father had sent some of her cousins to join the mission. Members of the main family barely ever joined missions. It was too risky, and their pure eyes too valuable.

Hashirama waved at them, calling specifically Inori over to them. Tsunade was sitting on his shoulders. She used his long hair as reins while neighing. He reached out to Chiyome, who was walking next to her mother. But the girl only looked at Tsunade on top of him and hid behind her mother's legs once again, burying her face in her mother's dress.

Hashirama laughed. "You should really bring Chiyome over some time when I'm back, so she can get used to me and Tsunade. They should grow up as friends. Sakumo too." He greeted Riku with a pat on his back.

"Is your granddaughter not enough for you?" Takuma stepped next to him.

Hashirama only laughed, pretending his son was joking. But there was no smile on Takuma's face. "Who knows, maybe the three of them will end up on the same team one day," Hashirama said.

"Not fair," Inori immediately protested. "My child should be on a team with Chiyome and Sakumo."

"It can't be on their team if it doesn't exist," Riku was teasing her, which earned him a friendly hit on the shoulder from Inori.

"Anyway, Inori. There is something I wanted to tell you, or rather ask of you." Hashirama put Tsunade down so she could play with Chiyome and Sakumo. "I decided that while I'm gone, you should take my place. I want you to stand in for me, as Hokage." It wasn't really an official announcement, but Hashirama still talked loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

Sasuke Sarutobi laughed. "You are teaching them young, huh?"

"Hokage, me? Now?" Inori was just as surprised as the rest, if not more.

"Of course, Tobirama is still in the village should you need help with anything. But knowing you, this will be like a holiday to him compared to the times I'm here." He laughed to himself.

"But, I don't even know what to do. What if something happens while you are gone, sensei?"

Hashirama's eyes were on the three kids. They were Konoha's future. Just like his own students. "It will only be for a few days, weeks at most. Tobirama can explain everything to you further. Though I'm sure you'll manage just fine," he kept encouraging her. "I'm sorry this idea crossed my mind this late. I should have talked this through with you earlier."

Inori searched for advice in her friends' faces. They were both nodding at her. So Inori agreed.

"Alright, everyone. We should leave now. Sunagakura has made it clear that their situation is urgent."

Riku gave both Kumiko and Sakumo a kiss, and Chiyome too. He then hugged Akari and Inori.

"Come back unharmed," Inori said. "This is now an order from your Hokage."

Riku smiled back at her. She was the last person his eyes stayed on before he turned around and left.

They watched him and Hashirama leave through Konoha's gates. Neither Akari nor Inori was content that they had to stay behind. But Akari had Chiyome, who was already tugging at her dress again, and Inori had the Hokage title.

"I wonder why Kumogakure could possibly want to attack Suna. There is nothing there to gain. Just a lot of sand." Kumiko said, more to herself than anyone else. She picked up Sakumo.

Akari and Inori exchanged glances. They had discussed this same question many times before, and had come to only one possible conclusion. "They are testing their power," Inori said. "These shinobi villages are new, and no one is quite sure how strong their united clans are together. Suna is a fairly safe target to attack."

It took a moment until Kumiko could meet Inori's eyes. "Right, because Suna has no bloodlines or Jinchuurikis." She smiled. "You are really smart, Inori. I can never talk about these things with Riku."

Inori wasn't quite sure if her words were a sincere compliment or not. But she decided it didn't matter. "Akari and me were planning on having lunch together. Do you and Sakumo want to join?"

Kumiko politely declined, and left with Sakumo to go home.

"You asked her to come along?" Akari asked, holding onto Chiyome so she wouldn't think of running after her friend.

"Why not? She's Riku's wife. It would be nice if we all got along."

Akari nodded. "You are right… Lady Hokage."

Inori rolled her eyes, but smiled. They both left together.

* * *

.

* * *

Akari was walking home with Chiyome in her arms. The sun was setting already, and the little girl was whining. She wanted to be led down to walk on her own. But with her little legs, it would take forever to arrive back at the Hyuuga compound.

The wooded forest path was fairly isolated, covered by trees left and right, and mostly only used by her family. Today, the trees around her were covered by an unusually thick mist. She stopped as it quickly grew thicker and thicker around her. It had been a warm and sunny day.

Akari wrapped her arms tighter around her daughter. She was standing still, eyes closed. There was someone close. Several people. She could sense them, their chakra. One approached at a high speed.

When Akari opened her eyes again, her Byakugan was activated, showing her the exact locations of the four people surrounding her. One charged at her from behind. The mist was so thick now that normal eyes could barely spot their own hands in front of them. But Akari's eyes told her all she had to know. She dodged one sword strike, and another right after, coming from a different direction.

Chiyome was still in her arms. She had stopped fidgeting and whining, almost as though he knew that this was not the right time anymore. Instead, her small hands held tightly onto her mother's dress.

Akari continued dodging attacks, while trying to escape the mist and their attackers. But they cut her off each time.

She bit her lips. Whoever these people were, they outnumbered her. And even worse, she couldn't fight with a little girl in her arms.

Akari used the one technique that would allow her an extra pair of arms to fight. She split her chakra in half to summon a shadow clone. She held onto Chiyome, letting her clone do the fighting.

While it distracted the swordsmen, Chiyome used another jutsu. She spit a fireball, not at anyone in particular, but towards the sky. If she couldn't get out of the mist, then she would have to get other people to come to her.

Her clone was fighting just like she would, with the Byakugan activated and chakra surrounding the palms. It was the Gentle Fist technique. Though it was barely of any use against four enemies.

They kept coming after Akari and Chiyome again. Akari kept dodging what she could, until a sword flew past her legs, so thin and spiky it looked more like a needle than a sword. Wire was attached to it, which wrapped around her legs, causing her to fall. She was about to try and cut it with chakra, when another swordsman swung his swords at her. They looked like two fangs. Akari rolled to the side to not get pierced.

She could feel a kick into her side, but she didn't let go of her daughter. Her hands formed more signs while she was still down on the ground. A water dragon emerged around her, and vanished into the mist to go after her enemies. She knew this wouldn't allow her to beat all of them, but it would buy her more time, distract them just like her clone.

A sudden pain flooded her body. She felt like she had been stabbed right through her lungs. But there was no blood, no wound. Akari knew her shadow clone had vanished, stabbed through the chest. She told her mind the pain wasn't real, yet she still felt it.

The distraction was enough for one of the swordsmen to land a strike she couldn't dodge. But the sword wasn't cutting, it was biting. Akari could feel her chakra being drained, her eyes could even see it leave her body and being sucked into the sword.

Someone tore Chiyome away from her arms. Her daughter immediately started crying and yelling. Akari wanted to jump after them, but the sword was still biting deep on to her flesh. She felt sick from the sudden loss of chakra, sweat ran down her forehead. She formed more signs, and turned around to spit another fireball, this time at the sword's wielder.

He let go of the scaled sword to dodge. But the sword kept biting into Akari's shoulder on its own. Akari panicked, and cut off her own chakra flow to her shoulder, causing her left arm to be useless.

The sword let go, realising it couldn't get any more chakra out of her.

Akari's eyes searched for her daughter. Only two enemies were left. She saw the other two leave with Chiyome. They were almost out of the village again. But she couldn't go after them, her body was exhausted, her chakra almost completely drained. And there were still two more enemies in her way, already preparing their next strike.

She could see one of them coming at her once again, saw that the blade aimed right for her vital spots. They weren't going to abduct her too, they were going for the kill.

She dodged. But she already knew that the other one was coming at her from behind. Her eyes showed her, but her muscles were too slow to move.

Spikes of stone emerged from the ground all around Akari. Her attacker jumped backwards, abandoning the attack.

Akari's cousin was already behind the enemy, landing a perfect hit onto a chakra point on his back.

"Lady Akari!" another cousin appeared next to her as the spikes vanished again. "Are you hurt?"

Akari couldn't answer. Her body was trembling from adrenaline. For a moment, she'd been sure this was the end.

The two swordsmen soon decided to flee. There was still thick mist around them, but that bothered none of the Hyuuga. Their eyes saw through anything.

"What are you two waiting for?" Akari now yelled at her two cousins, who were standing next to her, wanting to have a look at her wounded shoulder. "Give this to me." Akari grabbed her cousins bow and arrows. She was too exhausted to chase after them herself. But she had enough energy left to at least shoot an arrow.

Her Byakugan showed her the exact spot of her target. They were moving, but in a straight line away from her. Trees and houses blocked the line of fire. But Akari knew there would be one opportunity to shoot, one moment when they would be in the open.

The two shinobi jumped up houses to climb Konoha's big walls.

Akari shot, enchanting the arrow with the last chakra she had available. She didn't have to wait and see to know she'd hit; she didn't have the chakra anyway to keep the Byakugan active any longer. But she always hit.

* * *

.

* * *

Akari's father and brother were the first to enter the room after her aunt finished bandaging her shoulder. She quickly bowed to the two men and left.

"Who attacked you?" Her father's voice was stern. He didn't sound worried, more like he was making a business inquiry.

"There were four enemies, all carrying swords," Akari answered dryly. "I believe they belong to Kirigakure."

"Kirigakure be damned. To have the audacity to attack my clan in our own village." His hands were carefully folded behind his back, but he was pacing up and down the room in a nervous manner.

"What about the shinobi I shot? Have you interrogated him?"

"He's dead. Took poison when he realised resistance was futile," her brother explained. At least he wore a worried frown. "I never thought Kirigakure would go this far."

Kirigakure had been threatening the Hyuuga clan for many years. Their Mizukage had expected them to join him and Kiri when he founded the village, but Akari's father chose Konohagakure for his family and clan instead. It seemed like now, they planned on taking the Byakugan by force.

"But why would they try and kill Akari and abduct Chiyome? Akari has the seal. Her eyes would become useless once she's dead, and Chiyome…" Her brother stopped.

"… is a bastard?" Akari immediately finished his sentence. "If only that gossip had reached Kiri, my daughter might still be here with us."

"The last time the Mizukage and I met, Akari was still standing next to me as my daughter and heiress. It's likely they really were going after her eyes."

Akari huffed. Her whole body was tense. Seeing her father treat this matter like his usual clan business pained her more than she wanted to admit.

The door opened again and Inori came storming inside. She sat down next to Akari on the bed, carefully running her hand over her back.

"They told me you were injured. Are you okay?"

Akari nodded. She'd tried her best to keep her composure in front of her father, but now that Inori was wrapping her arms around her, she could feel her heart become heavy. "Please, Inori," she started pleading. "We have to go after them and get Chiyome back."

Inori watched her friend do her best to blink back tears.

"We need to be cautious if Kirigakure is behind this. They not only have strong clans, but also at least two Bijuu we know of. This might as well be a trap," Akari's father reminded Inori.

"I know that," she snapped at him. Neither Akari nor Inori wanted him there. But Inori also knew that she had to use her brain, not her heart.

"We should wait for Lord Hashirama to come back," Haruto said. "It's not like we have to act now. They won't harm Chiyome."

"How can you be sure?" Akari yelled at her brother. "They might as well cut out her eyes and still use her as…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Chiyome hasn't even awakened the Byakugan yet. And we don't know if she ever will. Her eyes are of no use to them as of now."

Their father carefully observed the discussion between his two children.

"So what now? You want to sit around and just watch them raise _my_ daughter?" Akari rose her voice again. Inori had never seen her this emotional.

"I'm just saying we should wait until our Hokage is back. He can decide what to do," Haruto said.

Inori stood up, straightening herself. "I'm representing Hashirama while he is gone. So right now, my word is the Hokage's word." She was nervous, but didn't show it. Akari's father was thrice her age, and it was clear he didn't respect her. She could see it in his eyes.

"Kirigakure is surrounded by water, and now home to many strong clans. We have to go now, get her back before they reach their village. This is our best chance," Akari was talking to Inori, trying to convince her.

"And what will you do if there is a Jinchuuriki waiting for you?" Akari's father asked Inori. "Do you want to give them a pair of Sharingan as well?"

Inori took a moment to carefully considered the information they had. Her heart wanted to find a way to help Chiyome, badly. "There is one person left in this village strong enough to take on anyone, even a Jinchuuriki," she eventually said. "I will go and ask my uncle. We will assemble a team so strong it won't matter if this is a trap or not."

"I will come too," Akari immediately said. She was glad to have a reason to leave.

Her father blocked her way. "You are injured. Lay down and rest. We will handle this situation."

"Why don't you just go and decide which branch member to send on this mission? It's what you can do best, ordering others to do your work while you sit around lazily." She walked around him and left.

No muscle in her father's face twitched. He wore the same blank expression that Inori often saw on Akari's face as well, though she'd clearly lost it right now.

Inori followed her friend, just to find her own uncle stand in front of the Hyuuga mansion.

"It has reached my ears that some problems have occurred. I just wanted to make sure my niece wasn't ruining this village I have founded just yet," he explained when he saw Inori's confused face.

She quickly explained the situation to him, and added a firm request for him to join a rescue mission.

"Please," Akari added, in a more pleading manner.

Madara carefully studied their faces, arms crossed in front of him. "I already refused to help Hashirama. What makes you think I'd allow and support you risking your life for a Hyuuga child?"

"Chiyome is not a Hyuuga child. She's a child of Konoha. You can't just found a village and then only involve yourself in matters regarding your clan." Inori sounded like she was giving a speech that she'd practiced for days. "I'm going to save Chiyome, whether you join me or not."

"You seem quite determined. What if I said I only joined this mission if you finally agreed to marry Setsuna?"

There was a moment of silence. "Then I'd happily agree to marry Setsuna," Inori answered.

"Inori, you don't have to –" Akari wanted to step in, but Inori hushed her.

"Why do you want to save this child so badly?" her uncle asked. "Because it's one of Konoha's children or because she's your best friend's child?"

"Can't it be both? I don't want to have to choose between Konoha or my clan. Or the village and my family. Because my clan is part of Konoha, and the village is my family."

Madara smiled one of his rare, but sincere, smiles. "It shows that Hashirama was your sensei all those years. You sound just like him already. Fine. I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

Inori immediately wrapped her arms around her uncle, a bright smile on her face. He gladly returned the hug.

Akari watched them, slowly dropping her gaze. She couldn't believe Inori had told her that she was jealous of her only yesterday. Her father stood nearby, quietly observing the scene. "Can we leave now?" she interrupted them.

"Stop being foolish, Akari." Her father immediately came over. "You are only going to be in the way if you join them in this condition. Stay here."

"I won't be in the way. I'll stay behind if I have to. You shouldn't have to worry about me, I'm wearing the caged-bird seal after all. So my eyes are safe."

She could see her father cringe at her words. "I will send someone in your stead."

"You don't have to send anyone else. They shouldn't have to risk their lives for a bastard child when they already have to give everything for the main family."

"I'll go. I'm sending myself."

Akari's eyes widened. "You? But…" She couldn't quite believe her ears yet.

"She is my grandchild after all."

"But father," Haruto intervened. "They are clearly after the Byakugan. If you go, you might step directly into their trap. Let a branch member go."

Their father looked at Inori and Madara. "These two Uchiha are willing to risk their own lives, and the eyes of their clan as well, to save someone else's child. What kind of a grandfather would I be if I did not join them?"

Akari felt the need to hug him too, but she resisted. Still, she couldn't help a soft smile.

"I shall go and inform Tobirama about the situation. Someone will have to watch over the village while we are gone." Inori vanished into thin air.

Madara stayed, quietly leaning against a pillar. He didn't try and talk to any of them, didn't even look at them. Akari's father still approached him, offering some tea. Madara declined.

Akari stayed nearby to observe them. She'd barely ever seen them talk together. The Senju usually acted as mediators for clans, and people usually talked to Hashirama when they had business with Madara.

"Your niece has a fruitful life ahead of her, being trusted with the village at such a young age. You must be proud." Akari's father stood next to him, hands folded behind his back again.

"I am." Madara's gaze fell on Akari. "Your daughter is a bright one too."

Akari hadn't expected a compliment from Inori's uncle. Yet it wasn't enough to raise her mood. On the contrary. It only reminded her what a disappointment she was in his eyes. He looked at her but didn't say anything.

Akari sat down in front of their mansion. Her shoulder was throbbing, and her eyes heavy. But she wasn't going to lay down in any bed while her daughter was gone. She would sit there until she was back.

* * *

.

* * *

Akari was still sitting on their wooden veranda, her eyes focused on the path that lead to the village. Hours had passed since Inori left with Madara, her father and some others. She hadn't moved since. Her brother kept her company for a while before leaving, and her aunt brought some tea. She hadn't touched it yet.

She eventually spotted someone, moving at high speed towards her. But it was only one person, and it wasn't Inori.

Hashirama appeared in front of her. A soft breeze surrounded him.

"Sensei? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Suna?" Akari subconsciously checked his appearance for any signs of a transformation jutsu, wondering if someone was fooling with her.

"Tobi reached us and told me what happened. Riku wanted to come too, but my brother could only take one of us back with him using Hiraishin." He came closer, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I really didn't think Konoha would get attacked like this as soon as I left for Suna."

Akari shook her head, signalling him it wasn't his fault.

"Where is Inori?"

"She went after them a while ago. Madara is with her though."

"I'll go too and make sure we get your daughter back." He let go of her again. "And after that, we should all have some dinner together. Well, I guess I'll have to leave and rejoin my squad. But once I'm back from Suna, then we should definitely have dinner. I'll even cook for you and little Chiyome." He laughed and a warm smile remained on his lips.

His behaviour irritated Akari, but she knew he was only trying to cheer her up. She reached for his hand when he turned around, stopping him. "Please, take me with you, sensei. I'll make sure not to be in the way. Please, I can't keep sitting around."

She could see in his eyes that he was searching for the right words to dismiss her request, to explain this wasn't a good idea, that she should stay there. And Akari knew he was right, yet she couldn't help it. She had to go.

Akari's eyes widened as she stared right past Hashirama. His words didn't reach her ears anymore. Three people were coming her way, walking up the wooded path that led to their compound. Inori was carrying Chiyome in her arms. Her daughter happily played with Inori's black hair, just like she always did. Akari dashed past Hashirama and ran towards them.

"Thank you so much," Akari kept repeating while wrapping Chiyome into her arms. She couldn't feel the pain in her shoulder anymore. "All of you, thank you."

Her eyes met her father's. There was a cut on his face. It wasn't deep, but it was still there. Akari hesitated just a moment before she walked up to him and carefully leaned her head against his chest. He clasped her in his arms. Tears ran down Akari's face, and she couldn't help but cry. Her father softly ran his hand up and down her back, while she pressed her own daughter closer to her chest.

"You really left your duty in Suna to come back here, Hashirama." Madara didn't care much for the scene unfolding next to him. He was the only one who didn't seem moved. "Not what I had expected." There was not a single wound on his body, not even a scratch.

Hashirama wanted to put his arm around Madara's shoulders, but his friend quickly dodged the attempt. Hashirama went after him, and eventually caught him, wrapping his arms around him from behind. For a moment, they looked like little children playing. "How could I not? Konoha and my people are always my first priority."

"Stop fooling around!" Madara yelled at him while trying to free himself. "Act like a Hokage for once. Where is Tobirama?"

Hashirama let go of him, but was still laughing. "Fine, fine. Good job, Inori." He patted his former student on the back. "I will go and talk to my brother about the incident. But knowing Madara, Kirigakure won't dare attack us and our people again any time soon. If ever. Inori, will you join me or stay here? I need a detailed report on the events."

Inori looked at Akari and decided it was best if she went with Hashirama. She didn't want to interrupt. Because if Madara had taught her anything, it was that family was the most important thing in this world.


	3. Year 2

Chiyome turned two years old only a week and a half after Hashirama left Konoha for Sunagakure to restore peace. Birthdays weren't really celebrated in Konoha, or any other village in the Fire Country. It was a day like any other, yet Akari had an especially hard time to take her eyes off her daughter. She couldn't believe how fast the girl grew up, and that she'd already been a mother for two years.

Chiyome was sitting on her grandfather's lap. He'd politely asked Akari if he could read a book to her and teach her a few things. The book turned out to be an encyclopaedia on the clans living in Konoha.

Akari silently watched her father explain clan after clan to her daughter. He showed her their symbols, explained their special jutsu and bloodlines and taught her the names of their clan heads. Chiyome listened carefully to anything he said, absorbing it like a sponge. It didn't take long until she started pointing at fans when he mentioned the Uchiha clan or repeated the word "dog" when she saw a picture of the Inuzuka clan.

There was a soft smile on her father's lips, and Akari couldn't help but smile herself.

Her aunt knocked at the door to their living room and entered. She bowed to Akari's father first, before addressing her.

"Lady Akari, Lady Inori is here. She's waiting in the reception room."

"Go ahead. I'll watch Chiyome some more," her father said, not taking his eyes off his granddaughter.

"Are you not busy?" Akari wasn't used to her father's sudden interest in Chiyome's life yet. It had taken him two years to accept the fact that she gave birth to an illegitimate child. But ever since Chiyome had been kidnapped, it was like he'd forgotten about all those arguments they'd had. Akari wasn't going to question his change of heart. Good things weren't supposed to be questioned, that's what Riku always told her and Inori. So she nodded and went to greet Inori.

"Where is your daughter?" was the first thing Inori said when she saw Akari without Chiyome.

"With my father." Akari invited her inside, and they went to the atrium. She didn't want to leave their compound without her daughter.

"Really? That's too bad. I have a present for her."

"A present? You shouldn't have!"

"Oh, it's just something small." Inori handed a small silken bag to her. There was a bracelet in it. Chiyome's name was engraved on it.

"A bracelet? It's beautiful, but…" Akari closely inspected every little stone braided into the bracelet. All of them had more signs and symbols engraved, some of which reminded Akari of sealing formulas. "I'm sorry, but I can't accept this." She offered it back to Inori.

"Why? It's a present. Take it."

"I won't. Chiyome doesn't need this," she snapped at her friend.

"Come on, Akari. You can't reject a gift. They don't have to be _needed._ "

"Take it back, Inori." She tried putting it back in Inori's hands, but her friend made sure to pull away. "There is no way I am keeping this, yet alone give it to Chiyome."

Inori sighed, but still refused to take the bracelet back. "I told him you'd realise the bracelet wasn't from me, but he didn't believe me. Guess he doesn't know you too well."

"Inori!" Akari's voice was somewhere in between yelling and whispering. She subconsciously looked around to see if anyone might be listening. "Since when are you on his side?" she asked when Inori was finally quiet again.

She shrugged. "He's her father. You can't deny that, no matter how hard both of you might try."

They both fell silent. The conversation wasn't over yet, but they heard someone close-by. It didn't take long until Akari's aunt appeared in the door.

"Lady Akari, there is –" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Someone already pushed past her to enter the atrium.

"Riku?" Inori was the first to get up, but both girls wore an equally surprised look on their faces. Neither of them had known Riku was back already. And neither of them had expected him back either.

He gave both of them a warm hug. "Kumogakure simply retreated once they learned of our presence," he explained and sat down next to them.

"I'll make some tea for you and your guests," her aunt said before leaving again.

"What do you mean, they simply retreated?" Inori inquired.

"Well, they saw us and left. Guess the sight of me scared them too much." He laughed, but none of his friends joined in. "Also, I had to come back in time to make sure I wouldn't miss your wedding, Inori."

Inori cringed at his words.

"The news travelled all the way to Suna. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Sorry," she said in a low voice. "It only got decided after you left. I didn't think it would spread this fast… and far."

"Yeah, it seems the people of Suna like rumours even more than Konoha's people do. But they also have some really nice bars. And there really isn't much to do with desert all around, so I can understand why they would –"

"I thought you were going there to protect Suna from Kumo. When did you find the time to visit their bars?" Inori interrupted him, happy to be given an opportunity to change the topic.

Riku only gave a short laugh and scratched his head. "I told you, they really just retreated. There was almost no fighting at all. But Hashi-sensei said we should stay a while to make sure they don't come back. And while we were already there… It really wasn't my fault, sensei just dragged me along."

Akari quietly shook her head. The bracelet was still in her hands. Inori had won this fight for now.

Riku continued to tell them about his time in Suna. They all agreed that this war had not been a war after all. It had been a testing of power. And the results were obvious. Sunagakure was weak, no threat at all. They were lacking clans with good bloodlines and, most importantly, a Jinchuuriki. They were dependant on Konoha as their ally, who had their enemies running at the sheer sight of their Hokage. And Madara, the only person to have ever matched him on the battlefield, hadn't even accompanied them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Konoha is the strongest village out of the five by far," Riku concluded. "And will also stay the strongest for years to come."

Akari raised an eyebrow at him. She often called Riku out for something she'd declared 'naïve optimism'. "You are putting too much trust in Hashirama and Madara. They might be our greatest strength, but also our biggest weak spot. Bijuus are always a double-edged sword."

Her two friends seemed to barely listen. They started picking up small pebbles from the ground and made a game out of throwing them into the little pond in the middle of the atrium. Akari frowned at the slight disarray they were creating in the Hyuuga's perfectly arranged garden.

"You are being too grim, Akari." Inori didn't look at her but tossed pebbles at Riku instead. She laughed when one hit him straight on the forehead. "My uncle has had the one- and twotails since birth and nothing ever happened. Hashirama never had problems controlling the ninetails either."

"As I said, we are relying too much on those two. What if something were to happen to them?"

Inori snipped a pebble at Akari, who instantly caught it. "Nothing is happening to either of them. These are peaceful times. I mean, at least compared to the Warring States. I'll start worrying once they are both 80 and dying of old age."

"Hey, did you guys know Mito is pregnant again?" Riku casually noted to change the subject. Sometimes Akari and Inori had very different views on life, and neither of them shied away from a lengthy discussion. During those times, they usually forgot Riku was even present.

"Seriously?" Inori immediately burst out. "Are you sure? Hashirama already has a grandchild. Tsunade will be older than her own aunt."

Riku nodded, content he'd managed to successfully navigate the conversation in another direction. "He told me when we were drinking."

"I totally didn't expect that." Inori stretched herself, before leaning closer to her friends again. "Do you think they actually love each other? It's no secret he married her for the Uzumaki's bloodline. I never imagined they, you know, would still be doing it."

"It doesn't really matter if they love each other or not, does it?" Akari calmly said. She'd never been into gossiping much. "They are married. It shouldn't be a surprise they are expecting another child."

"But Takuma is going to be like what, 20 years older than his little sibling? I doubt he's going to be thrilled." Inori kept going, but Akari only shrugged to signal her disinterest in the subject. So she let the last pebbles fall to the ground again and got up. "Well, I guess it's actually time for me to leave again."

"Already?" Riku asked in surprise. "I only just came back. I thought we could… spend some time together."

"Sorry, I'm meeting with Setsuna. We agreed to get to know each other a bit better before the wedding. … not that it would change anything if we found out we can't stand each other. It's not like I could possibly cancel a second wedding." Her hand stroked over the shoulders of her friends to say goodbye.

Akari and Riku quietly watched after her.

"You really came straight here? I mean, you went to see Kumiko first, right?" Akari asked when Inori was gone.

Riku avoided her eyes for just a second. "Of course, I went home first, but she wasn't there. So I came here."

Akari raised her eyebrows again. Riku usually made fun of that look, saying it made her look too much like a strict mother. But he didn't say anything, so she added, "You know well enough she's probably staying at the Senju compound until you are back."

"Sorry, mom. I'll go there right away," he said in a sarcastic tone, but still didn't move. He kept sitting next to her, his eyes focused on the little stone lanterns in the garden. "Do you know that Setsuna guy?" he eventually asked.

"Not really. I met him a few times, but that's it."

"Is he… a nice guy?" Riku's voice was soft, and careful. He always spoke that way when he was worried about someone. Akari knew it well enough. She'd heard that exact voice so many times when she got pregnant.

"I think so." She smiled to reassure him. "You know Madara wouldn't let her marry a man who wasn't nice, right?"

Riku nodded quietly. Akari could tell there was something bothering him. He did his best to hide it, but she'd known from the moment she saw him. Him, and Inori too. There was something they kept from her.

He glanced at her. "Has Inori… said anything to you?"

"Inori has said a lot." She avoided his question, knowing he would keep quiet if she admitted she had no idea what was going on.

"About me?"

Akari gave him a blank look. "Is there anything you want to talk with me about?" she asked.

Riku scratched his head, glanced left and right, turned away from her, turned back, scratched his head again. "You know, when I first met you, I didn't actually like you much."

This was not the response Akari had expected. "Why, thank you," she said with a hint of irony in her voice. Akari wasn't much of a sarcastic person, but sometimes, Inori and Riku's behaviour simply rubbed off on her.

Riku smiled. "You know it's different now. But the first time I saw you, I was convinced you were a spoiled princess. Stuck up, no fun. Even when the three of us became a team, I couldn't quite understand why Inori adored you the way she does. But I do now."

Akari quietly listened. It wasn't the first time someone admitted they thought of her as a spoiled princess. It didn't really bother her much. But she hadn't figured out yet where this conversation was going.

"You were always so perfect in my eyes. Too perfect. The little Hyuuga princess that knew everything, aced every test Hashirama-sensei gave us, always had the perfect answer ready to any question. Then suddenly you were pregnant. And I realised I knew nothing about you. I had never even seen you with any guy."

"Riku, you know I don't want to –"

"I know," he interrupted her. "And I'm sorry. I know this is not something I ought to ask. But was it a mistake? You couldn't possibly have planned on your life turning out this way. So was it a mistake? Do you regret it?"

Akari didn't know what had happened to Riku, but she'd hardly ever seen him this serious. She averted her eyes and looked down at the little bracelet in her hand.

There was a moment of silence between them.

"It's true I didn't exactly plan for my life to take the direction it did," Akari eventually said. "But that doesn't mean I regret anything. And it was not a mistake either. At least none I wouldn't do again."

A smile formed on Riku's lips again, more sincere than the last one. "True. Chiyome is too cute to be a mistake."

Akari smiled too. The thought of her daughter was enough to fill her with happiness. "But this wasn't what you wanted to talk about, was it?"

There was another moment of silence.

"I kissed Inori," he finally admitted.

Akari felt like she was supposed to be surprised. But she wasn't. "When?"

"Before I left for Suna. After we were drinking the night before. We talked some more after you left, and… I don't know. We were both drunk. It was probably just a stupid mistake and I should just forget it ever happened but somehow I… I don't know how to feel about it."

"You don't regret it?"

"I do. I regret it. But maybe… for the wrong reasons. I regret it because I have Kumiko. I promised Kumi my love, my loyalty. I'm supposed to love only her. And I do, I love her. But I love Inori too. I always have."

There was a time before Chiyome was born when Akari told Riku to forget about Inori. She thought back to that day now, wondering if she'd given the wrong advice to her friend. Back then, Inori marrying someone outside of her clan, yet alone a civilian, seemed ridiculous to her. A thought that now made her feel guilty.

"I could never regret having Chiyome. But that doesn't mean having her was the right thing to do. My clan put expectations on me I failed to meet. And I am now accepting the consequences of my actions. I don't regret it. I don't have to regret it. But that doesn't mean I did the right thing. I was selfish."

This was the most Akari had ever told Riku about Chiyome'S birth, which somehow left him wondering who Chiyome's father was once again. But he didn't ask her. If he'd learned anything in the last two years, it was that it didn't matter. Nothing would change, whoever he was. "I don't think you were selfish," he said instead. "You gave up on so much for her. How could that possibly be selfish?"

A warm smile formed on Akari's lips that reached all the way up to her eyes. Riku had never seen such a pure smile on her face before.

"Chiyome is proof of the one selfish deed in my life," she said. "Sometimes it feels like she's from a different world. An alternate reality in which I was not the heir of the Hyuuga, one where I had no obligations towards anyone but myself. I chose my own fate in that world. I chose Chiyome. She is my freedom, but freedom is costly." She put the bracelet away into one of her pockets. She wasn't going to give it to her daughter. "You have a loving wife, Riku. You have Sakumo, and you have the best friend there is in Inori. Be careful how much you are willing to pay."

* * *

.

* * *

A few weeks later, Inori and Setsuna got married. It was a small wedding that took place on the Uchiha compound. All of the Uchiha clan was present, yet Inori also made sure to invite the other clans. Even Tobirama joined the festivities and gave his congratulations. Riku had never spoken of the conversation between him and Akari again. And it was enough for Akari to know what decision he'd made.

It didn't take long until Inori was pregnant. She had a bright smile on her face when she told Akari and Riku, excited to see her own child play with Sakumo and Chiyome. She spent most of her days bombarding her friends with ideas on names and even tried her hands at knitting. Something she proved horribly incapable of. And when her son was finally born, she named him Fugaku.

* * *

.

* * *

Chiyome's second year of life was a peaceful year, for the most part. But Akari had always been convinced that peace was only a temporary phenomenon. Eternal peace did not exist. Yet she'd never expected just how evanescent it truly was. And it was gone before Chiyome turned three.

It started out like any other day. Akari was going through some of Chiyome's old stuff, wondering if there was anything that could be of use to Inori and Fugaku. Her daughter was busy painting, one of her favourite activities these days. She was a quiet child and was completely absorbed into the world she was creating on her paper.

They left soon after to go to the market. Inori, Riku and Akari had planned on preparing lunch together and Akari left the Hyuuga compound with a long list of ingredients she was supposed to bring. The marketplace was busy, but Chiyome held onto her mother's hand tightly. Akari was buying an apple for her when she spotted Riku. He too was doing his part of the shopping for the day together with Kumiko and Sakumo.

Akari hadn't planned on going over to them; she was going to meet them soon anyways. But once Chiyome's eyes spotted Riku and Sakumo, she was already on her way over to them. Akari followed, shaking her head at how fast her daughter could forget about her after all.

Riku and Kumiko were standing in front of a jewellery stand. Akari had never seen it before, but the necklaces they sold were quite gorgeous, and foreign. The merchant was set on making a deal with Kumiko when Akari reached them, offering her a special discount on one of the necklaces.

Chiyome was sharing her apple with Sakumo and they both had a little conversation on the colour of apples. Akari couldn't help but smile at the little reluctant conversations children sometimes had, acting like they were discussing the most serious matters.

Kumiko eventually gave in and bought the necklace. She put it on right away, earning her a compliment from her husband.

Akari was glad that they seemed happy. She wanted her friends to be happy. They continued their shopping trip together, something both Riku and Kumiko insisted on, and returned to Riku's house afterwards.

Riku had the smallest house of the three, but they still always chose his home when deciding where to meet. It was the place all three considered home, the place they could be themselves. It was not part of any clan's compound. There were no rules, no expectations. At Riku's house, they always felt that the rest of the world didn't matter. It was only them.

.

* * *

.  
Inori was sitting between Akari and Riku. Fugaku was quietly sleeping in her arms, and only a small tuft of black hair was visible between the blankets Inori had wrapped him in. They talked about Hashirama's new-born daughter and how they named her Hanako.

"She looks like she's going to be a redhead like her mother," Inori said. "It's so cute how Hashirama totally adores her."

"Doesn't it feel weird that you and Hashi-sensei became parents at the same time? You know, that sort of puts you in the same generation. You two will probably meet as parents on all those Academy events in a few years." Riku was teasing her. Chiyome was sitting on his one leg, Sakumo on the other.

"Fugaku will be so talented, he'll get put straight into the same class as Sakumo. Just wait and see." Inori was joking, but she still wore a proud smile whenever she looked down at her little boy. "I'll get some more tea, should I bring anything else?"

Akari shook her head. She was knitting a pair of socks for Fugaku. Inori gave her a whole list of items she wanted knitted after she'd given up herself.

"Tell Kumi to stop cleaning the kitchen and join us. I'll do it later," Riku said, shaking his legs left and right to earn some giggles from the children.

Inori nodded and left with Fugaku.

"So, Chiyo-chan. Are you going to marry Sakumo or Fugaku when you are older?" He tickled her and bright laughter filled the room.

"Sakumo!" Chiyome said happily, knowing it was the answer Riku wanted to hear. It wasn't the first time he'd asked her that very question.

He patted her head. Akari only rolled her eyes.

A sudden cold shiver ran down Akari's back. She looked around, not quite sure what she was searching. She only realised her Byakugan as active when she saw Riku's confused face.

"What happened?" he asked, alarmed.

She deactivated it again. "Nothing. I just… It's nothing."

Riku didn't seem too convinced. He got up, letting the kids down. "I'll see if I can help Kumi and Inori with anything."

Akari nodded. Her body told her there was something wrong, yet she could neither hear, nor see, nor feel anything unusual.

.

* * *

.  
The scene unfolding in front of Riku when he entered his kitchen was a strange one, and it took his brain a moment to figure out what was going on.

Kumiko was holding a kitchen knife, raising it into the air. It was pointed at Inori. But Kumiko didn't move. Not a bit, like she was frozen.

Inori was standing next to her, staring straight at Kumiko with her Sharingan activated. She was still carrying Fugaku in her one arm. Her other hand was pressed against her chest.

Inori collapsed before Riku's brain had figured it all out. Fugaku started crying as they both hit the ground. Simultaneously, Kumiko's body was able to move again. She turned her head to Riku, knife still raised. And without saying a word, she moved the blade to her throat and cut.

Riku took a few steps back, almost tripped over Chiyome, who'd followed him. But he barely realised the little girl was there. His eyes were locked on Kumiko, who collapsed to the floor as well.

"Chiyome," Akari called her daughter. She came over too when there was no response. "What's wrong?" she asked Riku, who was still standing in the doorway. He was now the one who seemed frozen.

Akari looked past him and saw Kumiko and Inori lying on the floor. A puddle of blood formed around both of them. She pushed Riku aside, kneeled next to Inori. She picked up Fugaku, who was still crying. He seemed uninjured, so she lay him down next to her. Inori was bleeding. She'd been stabbed in the chest.

Akari pressed both her hands onto the wound. "What are you standing there? Get help!" she yelled at Riku.

Her words seemed to snap him out of the shock he was in, and he immediately turned around and left.

Inori was still breathing. The sounds she made scared Akari. They seemed to come from far within her, her throat, lungs. At least it meant she was still alive.

"Don't worry," Akari told her. "Riku's getting help. Just hold on. Hold on, okay?"

The blood felt warm on her hands. But no matter how hard she pressed them onto Inori's chest, the bleeding didn't stop.

"Inori," she called her when she saw her eyes slowly closing. "Inori! Come on, Riku will be back soon." Panic spread in her, panic and a feeling of helplessness. Her eyes searched the room for anything that could help her, but there was nothing. And suddenly, everything went silent. The only breathing Akari could hear was her own. Heavy, almost hyperventilating.

Chiyome and Sakumo were both standing in the doorway. They didn't dare step into the kitchen. They could tell it was no place they were supposed to be at right now. Sakumo tried calling his mother. Once, twice. He gave up after she didn't answer the third time.

Akari couldn't send them away. She was too scared only screams and cries would leave her mouth.

.

* * *

.  
Two medical-nin soon arrived together with Riku. They looked at both Inori and Kumiko. But all they could do was to announce them dead.

"No," Akari repeated over and over. She hadn't taken her hands off Inori. And she wasn't going to. "She can't be dead. Heal her." The two medics shook their heads. They tried to explain to her that they'd both lost too much blood. "Heal her!" was all Akari had to tell them. "Heal her!" she yelled, cried. Warm tears ran down her cheeks. She gulped them back again. She wasn't going to let go of Inori. She couldn't let her bleed out.

Soon after, members from the Uchiha clan arrived. They belonged to Konoha's police force. Akari was still leaning over Inori, her hands still pressed onto her chest.

They asked her to get away from her. Something about 'collecting evidence'. Akari didn't understand.

"She's not dead," she told them. "She's still warm. She can't be dead." She spoke more slowly. Her voice was hoarse, her throat sore from all the tears she still tried to hold back.

One grabbed her arm, tried to pull her off, but Akari only yelled back at him to either help or leave. She threatened him when he tried again, so he let her go for now.

Hashirama was the next to storm into Riku's house, closely followed by Tobirama. He found Riku sitting in the living room, Fukagu in his arms. Chiyome and Sakumo were quietly sitting on the ground in front of him. They didn't say a word.

"What happened?" Hashirama asked Riku. He'd been informed about the situation, but he couldn't believe it yet. He couldn't believe one of his students was dead. But a look at Riku told him it was true.

Hashirama walked over to the kitchen. People were standing in front of it, Uchiha, medics. Tobirama quietly accompanied him. Inside the kitchen, he found Kumiko, dead. And Akari, who was still sitting next to Inori. Her hands were all red from blood.

Hashirama stopped there. He looked back at Tobirama, and past him at the two little children that were glancing at them.

"Go take the children away from here. This is no place for them." Hashirama's request was immediately met with disapproval from his brother.

"I'm not a babysitter."

"Do it, Tobi. Just take them outside. There are enough people here already."

Tobirama didn't hide his displeasure, but he still did as his brother said and went over to Chiyome and Sakumo.

"Follow me outside," Tobirama said. It sounded like an order coming from him, and maybe it was one.

But the two children weren't going to follow a grumpy-looking man leading them away from their parents. They didn't budge.

"Mama said I mustn't not go with strangers." Chiyome stepped behind Sakumo's back, shyly peeking past his shoulder. Sakumo nodded in agreement.

Tobirama raised an eyebrow at the double-negation the girl had unintentionally used. He kneeled down to them, and the children took some steps away. "You used a double-negation there, Chiyome. _Mustn't_ already means _must not_. So by saying ' _mustn't not go with strangers',_ you are telling me that you are not allowed to _not_ go with strangers."

Chiyome stared back at him with big eyes. He could tell her brain was trying to make sense of what he'd just explained to her.

"Are you a smarty-pants?" Sakumo asked. It was something his father often called Inori and Akari.

"Inori is hurt. Sakumo's mama too." Chiyome glanced past him towards the kitchen. "Why?" She was still hiding behind Sakumo, but the suspicious frown on her forehead had already vanished.

He followed her glance. "I don't know."

"You don't not know?" She grinned at him.

Tobirama wasn't sure if the girl was truly stupid and unable to negate properly or if she was actually smart enough to make a joke out of it.

"No, I don't know," he repeated. "So, should we go outside a bit?" he tried again.

"You have Sakumo's hair." Chiyome completely ignored his question.

"And you have Chiyo's hair too." Sakumo and Chiyome both messed up each other's hair, both laughing. They didn't understand yet what had happened in the room next to them.

Tobirama lost patience. He wasn't going to ask a third time, so he wrapped an arm around each and tucked them to his sides.

Chiyome was crying by the time they were outside. But it wasn't like those cries he knew from Tsunade, loud and sharp. She was softly sobbing, asking for her mama.

He had to grab her by her dress so she wouldn't run back inside again. "Do you want me to show you a magic trick?"

Chiyome sobbed again, and Sakumo protectively pulled her into his arms. But they eventually both nodded.

Tobirama clapped his hands together to form a sign. When he opened them again, a butterfly emerged between his hands. It was made of water. The butterfly flapped its wings, flying around Chiyome and Sakumo's heads.

Chiyome forgot she'd been crying just a second ago, so fascinated was she. The butterfly felt wet when touched. It was really just flying water. "More," she told Tobirama, while dancing around.

Soon the air around Chiyome was filled with water butterflies and innocent laughter.

Inside, the Uchiha were overwhelmed with their duty. It was the first murder case they were supposed to investigate, and the victim was their own clan head. It was a serious matter, yet Akari still prevented them from doing their work.

"She's refusing to step away from Lady Inori," one of the Uchiha men complained to Hashirama. "We'll have to forcibly remove her."

"Just give us a minute," Hashirama said, before finally stepping into the kitchen.

"Sensei," Akari immediately noticed him. She looked relieved to see him. "Please, you have to help her. Please, help her."

Hashirama kneeled next to Akari and Inori. He ran a finger over Inori's cheek. Her skin felt colder than he'd expected.

"Let's go to the living room, okay? Could you tell me what happened?" His voice was soft. He knew it wasn't the right time for him to mourn the loss of his student. He had to be the Hokage before he could be their teacher. It had always been like that. But he couldn't look into Akari's glassy eyes and not feel the need to put her first. "Let's go," he said again, trying to pull her up.

"No!" Akari immediately yelled back at him, pushing herself closer to Inori. "You have to help her, sensei. Please. She can't die. Don't let her die."

"Akari…" He put his hand onto hers. He could feel her muscles tensing. "She's dead." The words felt wrong. It didn't surprise him that Akari didn't believe him. He barely believed himself.

"No. She can't be dead. She can't die."

He wrapped his arms around her, pressed her to his chest.

"Let go," she sobbed. "Let go of me. You have to help Inori." Akari barely struggled. She didn't have the strength anymore.

He could feel her resistance lessening, and her sobs slowly turned into cries.

.

* * *

.  
Akari didn't know how long she had cried. It could have been five minutes. It could have been an hour.

Hashirama hadn't moved since he took her into his arms. He was giving her all the time she needed, despite impatient Uchiha staring at them. Or maybe he needed time himself.

He finally moved, slowly pulling Akari up with him. She moved one finger after the other, like she was testing what would happen should she remove them from Inori after all. The blood now felt cold around her hands, cold and sticky. She let go of her.

Akari reached for Inori's hand one last time. Part of her still expected her best friend to return the gesture, to wrap her fingers around Akari's hand too. But she didn't.

Akari found something inside Inori's hand, something she'd been holding onto. It was small, like a piece of jewellery. She took it, and let it vanish in one of her pockets.

Hashirama accompanied her to the living room. Riku was sitting on the couch, staring at the floor. The Uchiha had taken Fugaku away.

"Riku, Akari. Tell me what happened here. Who did this?" Hashirama's voice had turned more stern, cold. One of his students was dead. But more importantly, the heiress of the Uchiha clan was dead, Madara's niece. He couldn't be their teacher. He had to be their Hokage.

Akari slowly shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered, breathless. "When I found them, they were already…" Her throat was burning.

He turned his attention to Riku. But he too had no answer for him.

Akari looked around. There was something missing. "Chiyome!" She jumped up from the couch again. "Where is she?"

Hashirama put a hand on her shoulder and signalled her to sit down again. "She's with Tobirama. I told him to take her and Sakumo outside."

The front door opened again, and Madara entered. He wasn't storming in like Hashirama had. He stood in the doorway for a moment, calm and collected, and his eyes switched between Hashirama and his students and the crowd of people gathered in front of Riku's kitchen door.

Hashirama quickly followed him into the kitchen. "Madara…"

"How?" Madara asked, looking down at his niece's body.

Some other Uchiha were around her, carefully examining the scene. They quietly bowed to him.

"Who?" He turned to Hashirama. "Who did this?"

But Hashirama had no answer.

Akari shrunk further into the couch when she saw him return to the living room.

"You two were here," he yelled at them. "Tell me what happened."

There was no response.

"Leave them, Madara. They are in shock still."

"You!" he whirled around to Hashirama again. "What kind of village is it you are running? Her daughter gets kidnapped on our streets and my niece murdered in our houses. I thought Konoha was supposed to be safe?"

Hashirama didn't talk back, nor did he try to defend himself. Madara had every reason to be emotional.

"And how can you two not know anything? It happened in your own house while you were there! Aren't you supposed to be shinobi?" he continued to yell at Akari and Riku. "I swear, if I find out that one of you had anything to do with this…"

"Madara, stop." Hashirama placed himself between his friend and students. "We will find out who did this, I promise."

"That won't bring Inori back either!"

Akari buried her face in her palms. She couldn't listen to this. It made it all too real. She was still waiting to wake up any minute, realise this was only a bad dream. Because this couldn't be reality. She refused this to be her new reality.

"You failed, Hashirama. This village of yours is a failure."

"Our village." Hashirama's voice had gotten more heated too.

Akari was still covering her eyes. This world was not a world she wanted to see. But she couldn't keep her ears from hearing, and she couldn't keep herself from listening to Madara and Hashirama's fighting. It made her feel small, like a child having to listen to their parents arguing. Her world was already broken, but she could feel the pillars of Konoha crumbling too.

"Konoha has not been my village for many years. I only agreed to the peace between our clans to protect Inori. And look where that has left me!" His voice was so loud that the other people in the house stopped whatever they were doing, and they all turned to Hashirama and Madara. The Uchiha exchanged looks with each other, aware that this incident would have a lasting effect on their clan and its affairs.

Dark chakra streamed past everyone. So dark and strong, they all felt it clearly.

"What are you doing?" Hashirama grabbed Madara's hand. "Don't. Don't ever do that again. I understand you are hurting. And I understand you are angry. I am too. But don't ever threaten my village again like that. Don't let hate consume you."

"Stop pretending you understand my feelings. You always acted like we were so alike. But we aren't. You know nothing. Your brother is still alive and well, the man who murdered my own brother. You still have your son, and a daughter now too. You have your wife, a grandchild. You have it all, Hashirama. And I? What do I have left?"

"You have Fugaku."

Madara pulled away from Hashirama, and left without saying another word, taking his anger with him.

Only silence remained in Riku's house. The place that once felt like home to Akari was no longer a home, no longer evoked feelings of warm familiarity. It was the place her best friend died.

.

* * *

.  
Hashirama left them to talk to the police, the Uchiha. Akari hesitated a moment, but eventually took Riku's hand, squeezing it tightly. Inori's blood connected them.

"Tell me what you saw," she whispered to him.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "I don't know what I saw." He glanced around, making sure everyone close-by was busy and not paying attention to them. "Kumiko she… she was holding the knife when I entered. It looked like she wanted to stab Inori, but she wasn't moving. I think Inori had put her under a genjutsu. But I didn't know Inori was already injured. She collapsed. And then… Kumiko cut her own throat." He bit his lip, but the pain he felt from it couldn't lessen the pain he felt inside. He turned to Akari, squeezing her hand even tighter. "You know Kumiko would never do this, right?" She had to remind him to keep his voice down. "Kumiko would never hurt Inori. She'd never kill herself. I don't know what I saw. But it wasn't Kumiko murdering Inori." He turned away again, rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears.

Akari glanced at the jewellery that Inori had been holding onto. It was Kumiko's necklace, the one she'd bought on the market that morning. It all didn't make sense to her. But a look at Riku told her that she had to make sense of it. He hadn't lost one but two people. She had to be the strong one out of the two. She couldn't allow him to break apart in front of her.

Akari got up. An Uchiha member immediately blocked her way when she was going for the door.

"I'd like to go home."

"You can't. We still need to interrogate you."

"I will come back here and answer any questions you might have. But for now, I would like to wash my friend's blood off me."

They exchanged looks but didn't move out of the way.

Hashirama came over too. "Let her go. She doesn't need to be here for all this."

"But she's…"

"A suspect?" Akari finished what the Uchiha didn't quite dare say. "Have you found any evidence yet that would support an arrest on me?" She could see them stiffen. They had nothing.

"You can leave after we searched you," one of them said.

"I feel rather uncomfortable with an unfamiliar man touching me. Is there a woman available?" There was none present.

They exchanged more glances, frowns on their faces. They weren't high-ranking men in the Uchiha clan. Their clan's head was dead, the leader of the police away on a mission. This was no situation they were prepared to handle. The sheer sight of Akari scared them, despite the caged-bird seal on her forehead. Especially with Hashirama standing behind her.

"Will you bring the clothes you are wearing back with you? We would like to examine them."

"Of course, I will." Akari walked past them. Hashirama followed her outside.

"Are you going to be fine? I could ask Tobirama to accompany –"

"No, please don't. I would prefer to be alone for a while." She spotted Tobirama with Chiyome and Sakumo, not far away. Sakumo had fun climbing up a tree. Tobirama was standing underneath it, Chiyome on his shoulders. She was braiding his hair.

Sakumo slipped and fell. And at the same time, Chiyome looked up to him, leaning too far backwards. She fell too.

Tobirama caught them both with ease. The children laughed in unison like they had just discovered a new fun game.

"Akari…" Hashirama was reaching for her hand, but she pulled away.

"Could I leave Chiyome here just a little while longer? I don't want her to see me covered in blood."

"Of course. Take as much time as you need."

Akari left.

She pulled out Kumiko's necklace as soon as she was certain no one was close-by anymore. She examined it with her Byakugan and almost instantly found a small amount of chakra inwrought into it. It was part of a sealing formula, so small and inconspicuous that a normal eye wouldn't spot it. Akari knew she wasn't looking at a necklace. She was looking at the blade that killed Inori.

.

* * *

.

The same day, it was decided that Setsuna, being Inori's husband, was to be the new clan's head. Madara urged his clan to leave Konoha, to become independent again. But the majority declined, including Setsuna. They chose Konoha and its peace. A peace that was good enough for them, but not for Madara.


	4. Year 3

"Who killed Inori?"

It was the one question that occupied everyone's mind. The news of her murder spread like a wildfire across Konoha, and within a single day, most people were convinced they knew the answer to that question: Kumiko Senju.

It had been years since she'd taken on Riku's name, since she'd become a Hatake. Yet all of a sudden, to most people she was a Senju again. A Senju killed the Uchiha heiress. All of Konoha was talking about it.

"I don't know who killed Inori." Akari was sitting opposite of two Uchiha men. They belonged to the police. A woman from the Yamanaka clan was standing near the door, observing their conversation.

"Was there a fight between Inori Uchiha and Kumiko Hatake?"

Akari shook her head.

"Did Kumiko hold a grudge of any sorts against Inori?"

She shook her head again.

"Can you think of any reason why Kumiko would have been angry with Inori?"

She shook her head. This time it took Akari a millisecond too long to answer.

The man straightened himself, crossed his arms in front of his chest. "We've found witnesses claiming Inori Uchiha and Riku Hatake had a secret love affair. Were you aware of this?"

"They did not."

"They were seen together late at night. Apparently they kissed each other. Was Kumiko aware of this?"

Akari's face stayed blank, but she felt like someone had just punched her right in the stomach. "Not to my knowledge," she answered.

"And were you aware of this?"

She supressed the urge to avert her eyes, well aware they would take note of every small twitch in her face. "I know they kissed once," she admitted. "They were both drunk. And that's been months back. It didn't mean anything. They did _not_ have a secret love affair." Akari spoke as though she was fully convinced of her words. Though she couldn't be, not of the last part anyway. Keeping secrets was what they were all raised to do after all.

They took notes of her answer. "Where was Riku during the time of Inori's murder?"

_Murder._ The word still sent a shiver down her spine. It felt surreal that she was sitting in a room with two Uchiha being question about Inori's murder. "He was with me."

"All the time?"

"Yes."

They took notes again. "According to his testimony, he went to the kitchen first. How much time passed before you went after him and found Kumiko and Inori?"

"Less than a minute."

"Less than a minute. More like, 10 seconds? 30? Or 50?"

Akari swallowed. She knew where this was going. They had taken Riku into custody that very day. And she was Riku's only alibi. "It's not like I sat there counting seconds." She couldn't hold back the sharpness in her voice. "But there is no way Riku had anything to do with this. What reason could he possibly have to kill both of them? What kind of plan would it be to kill them in his kitchen while I am in the room right next to them? This doesn't make sense at all!" She took a deep breath, realising her emotions had gotten out of control.

They quietly took more notes.

"What is your relationship to Riku Hatake?"

"We are friends. We were both the Lord First's students."

"Only friends?" He left the question hanging in the room for just a moment, before adding, "The identity of your daughter's father is quite the mystery. Are Riku and your daughter close?"

"My daughter doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Does she not? Her white hair is quite beautiful. She is sitting outside with Sakumo Hatake, isn't she? I saw them on my way here. I almost mistook them for siblings."

"Excuse me?" Akari had a hard them holding back her indignation. She'd been asked most questions before already. But this was new.

"Is Riku Hatake your daughter's father?"

Akari had never reacted with denial nor approval when asked about Chiyome's father. She had always remained silent, swearing to herself to keep that silence, forever. But she had to break it now. "He is not," she said, as firmly as possible.

One of the Uchiha gave a short nod to the Yamanaka woman before turning to Akari again. "You would help us a lot if you allowed us access to your mind and memories. It would also help us to erase you, and Riku, from the list of our suspects."

"I refuse," she immediately said.

"Inori was your friend, wasn't she? We thought you would be more eager to help us with our investigations."

"She was. And I am. But giving a stranger access to my brain won't help us solve her murder. I know what I saw, and I told you what I saw. Several times now. I told the truth. So is there anything else I can help you with?"

He leaned back. There was a smile on his face, but he was anything but content.

Akari took deep breaths as soon as she was out of the room. She could feel tears shooting back into her eyes once more, but she blinked them away, straightened herself again. Crying would bring her nowhere.

Chiyome and Sakumo were sitting in the entrance hall of the police building. An Uchiha was with them, watching after them while they had interrogated her. They both came running at Akari once they spotted her, wrapping their arms around her legs. Sakumo asked for his father, but Riku was still in custody.

"Is dad with mom?" Sakumo asked when Akari tried to explain to him that his father couldn't come home yet.

"He's not. He just has some important things to take care of. And so do we." She offered her hands to the two children and they promptly held onto them.

Akari had taken Sakumo in without giving it any second thought. She knew Riku would do the same for Chiyome.

* * *

Akari bought some sweets for Chiyome and Sakumo on the way. She'd wanted them to wait and eat them once they could sit down somewhere in peace, but neither was patient when treats were involved. So they were munching happily by the time they arrived at the Hokage building, their mouths covered in powdered sugar.

They went upstairs first, but not to Hashirama's office. Akari knocked on Tobirama's door instead. No one opened.

So they went back down again and continued into the cellar. It was were Tobirama had his laboratory and where he spent most of his days at if he wasn't in his office.

Akari knocked at the heavy metal door. The sound it produced was barely hearable, muffled and low. But it didn't take long until it opened. Tobirama looked at her through a tiny gap, studying her for just a moment before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"I have a favour to ask," Akari said.

His eyes fell on Chiyome to Akari's left, then Sakumo to her right. "I'm expecting you are not going to ask me to babysit."

Akari couldn't quite appreciate the comment.

He apologised. "We can talk in my office. Just one moment." He went inside again and came back out shortly after, holding Hanako in his arms. He locked the door behind him before continuing up the stairs.

"You had Hanako in there with you?" Akari asked while walking after him.

"I'm babysitting."

"In your laboratory?"

He turned around to her, raising a brow. "Why not? She's just sleeping all day anyway. Mito said she wouldn't be gone for too long."

Tobirama's office reminded more of a library than an actual office. The walls were covered with shelves which were in return covered with books, all carefully sorted. He closed the door behind them and offered a seat, but Akari declined. Instead, she pulled out Kumiko's necklace from inside her dress and handed it to Tobirama.

"There is a sealing formula on it," she explained.

He sat down at his desk to inspect it, Hanako sleeping on his lap. He eventually had to grab a spying class to see the formula Akari was talking about.

"What am I looking at exactly?"

"A necklace."

His eyes slightly hardened at her vague answer. "And where did you find it?"

Akari hesitated a moment. "It's Kumiko's. She wore it when… the incident happened."

"And you took it," he realised. "This is evidence."

"They wouldn't even have noticed the seal." She spoke in a calm matter. "I can still hand it over to the police if you tell me what kind of formula that is."

Chiyome liked books, so as soon as her mother let go of her hand, she'd set course on one of the bookshelves. She was about to grab one, fingers all sticky from the sweets, but her mother managed to pull her back in time.

Tobirama carefully observed the little girl before giving his attention back to the necklace. "I would have to analyse it more. But as for my first impression… it looks a bit like my own Hiraishin seal. Might be a similar ability linked to it."

Akari nodded, trying to clean her daughter's hands as best as possible with a tissue. "So there is the possibility that someone teleported into Riku's house and killed them, right?"

"It's a possibility. But I don't see how none of you would have noticed."

"Kumiko bought this necklace on the market, the day this all happened, and it has a seal on it that looks like your Hiraishin seal. This cannot be a coincidence, can it?"

He eyed the necklace again from all directions.

"Who'd she buy it from?"

"I don't know. He didn't look like a foreigner, just some travelling merchant. I went there today, but I couldn't find him anymore."

"This material…" Tobirama got up again to find a book. It seemed like out of the hundreds of books there were, he knew exactly which one he had to pull out. He showed one of the pages to her.

"It's something they often use in Kumogakure. This looks just like traditional jewelry from Kumo to be precise."

Chiyome and Sakumo wanted to have a look at the book too, but Akari barely noticed them. She carefully read the page Tobirama showed to her.

He sighed. "This is an important piece of evidence, Akari. Now they might think you withheld evidence, or worse, they could think you forged this."

"Why would I –" she stopped herself halfway through the sentence. He was right. The Uchiha suspected her too. Her and Riku. Riku was already being held in custody, and the only reason she wasn't there with him was because she was both Hashirama's former student and the daughter of the Hyuuga's clan head. She was too influential to be taken into custody without hard evidence. She was too important of a person in Konoha to be sentenced without hard evidence. But Riku was not. This necklace was possibly the only thing that could save him. And they were surely to question where it suddenly came from.

Her gaze dropped. "I didn't think of this," she admitted, putting the book back to its place. "I didn't think they would suspect us at all. Yet they blame Riku. And even me." She bit her lips, looked down at Sakumo and Chiyome. The two kids stood in front of a shelf and looked at the books. They didn't touch them, knowing now they weren't allowed to. They didn't look like siblings to Akari. Their hair colour was the only thing they had in common.

Tobirama sighed again. "Leave the necklace with me," he eventually said. "I will hand it in for you."

She looked at him, confusion in her eyes.

"I'll tell them Chiyome had it and I didn't realise it was important evidence until I found the seal. If they ask you about it, you tell them about the merchant selling it."

"You are… going to lie to them?"

"It's not lying if what you just told me is true. It's just a different way of telling the truth."

She managed a short smile. "Thank you."

His eyes fell back on Chiyome and Sakumo. "It's her birthday today, isn't it?"

Akari nodded. "Three years have gone by in a blink." She ran her fingers through her daughter's white hair. "Anyways, thank you again for your help." She bowed slightly, before taking Chiyome and Sakumo by the hand. But before she could even turn towards the door, a sudden surge of chakra hit them. It was so strong and dark that even Chiyome and Sakumo grabbed Akari's legs tightly, trying to hide from something evil their eyes couldn't see.

Akari activated her Byakugan to scan the area outside.

"What's going on?" Tobirama immediately jumped to one of the windows.

"Oh gods…" For a moment, Akari froze.

To Tobirama, it looked like she was staring at a wall. But he knew she could see more than him. And he knew exactly what she was looking it. He could feel it.

"The twotails…" Akari stumbled. Her hand instinctively searched for Chiyome, pressing her closer to her. "It broke free. How?"

Tobirama left the window again. He didn't need to see it. "Stay here."

"Here?"

He handed her the key to his laboratory. "Go downstairs, lock the door after you. It should be safe in there. Safer than out there at the very least. Also…" He looked at Hanako sleeping in his arms. He pressed his lips slightly together before asking, "Would you mind taking her?"

"Excuse me?"

"I have to go make sure the village is safe. I can't possibly take her with me, can I?"

He pressed Hanako into Akari's arms.

"Is there no one else here to take her?" Akari asked while watching Tobirama put on his armour.

"I really don't have time to look for someone else. Sorry." With these words, he stormed passed her and was gone.

And so Akari was left with yet another child. She looked down at the little girl sleeping in her arms, wondering how she'd managed to go from one child to three in no more than a day.

She split her chakra in half to create a clone of herself before leaving Tobirama's office. She couldn't risk one of the children running off because she didn't have enough arms for all of them.

Her Byakugan stayed activated until they reached the laboratory. And even then, Akari didn't deactivate it. It would allow her to see what was going on outside.

"Don't touch anything," she said as she turned on the light. The laboratory was filled with even more books, as well as all sorts of weird apparatuses. Akari considered summoning another clone, looking at all the flasks standing on the table, filled with unknown substances. Part of her was concerned Chiyome would knock one over and accidentally be turned into a toad.

"Come here, we'll sit down together," she said instead, knowing just how much chakra Shadow Clones drained. Sakumo and Chiyome would have preferred investigating the laboratory, but they reluctantly obliged. At least for a while.

"A butterfly!" Chiyome suddenly jumped up again, pointing towards the ceiling.

"Chiyome! I told you to sit here." Akari barely had time to think about the world outside. The twotails.

"A butterfly!" Chiyome repeated, ignoring her mother.

"That's not a butterfly." Akari got up to stay close to her daughter. "It's a moth."

"Moth?"

Akari sighed. Her daughter expected an explanation. But she had other things on her mind than the difference between butterflies and moths.

An idea occurred to her. She took Chiyome by the hand and went over to one of the many bookshelves. She carefully skimmed the titles of the books until she found what she was looking for. _Moths: A Complete Guide to Biology and Behaviour._ She gave the book to her clone and took Hanako instead.

Chiyome and Sakumo both carefully listened as Akari's clone read them paragraph after paragraph on the different species of moths.

Akari sat down next to them and looked outside again. It wasn't hard to find the twotails. It towered over the village, smashing whole houses just by standing on them. It was hard to believe that its body consisted of chakra alone.

She looked at the shinobi that had surrounded it, ready to fight it. She knew so many of them. Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, Kagami. Tobirama and Mito were there as well. But she could find neither Hashirama nor Madara.

A sudden presence caught her attention. She kept all her senses as sharp as possible, so the person storming into the Hokage building was easy to detect. She looked upstairs towards the door. It was Setsuna, carrying Fugaku. He seemed to be in a hurry, in a panic even. He slammed the door shut behind him before running up the stairs. It seemed he was fleeing from something. Maybe the twotails, though it was far away, at the other end of the village.

Akari frowned. She didn't feel comfortable sitting hidden in a cellar while people upstairs had to face problems. Especially not when the person in question was Inori's husband carrying her new-born son. She felt obliged to go and make sure they were both alright.

But she continued observing him instead. After all, she was already responsible for three children herself. Setsuna was in front of Hashirama's office now, banging at the door. But no one opened. Hashirama wasn't there either.

Another person approached, someone Akari had almost missed. The door to the Hokage building slowly opened and was softly closed again. Madara walked up the stairs towards Hashirama's office and Setsuna.

Akari's heart skipped a beat. And another. She took a deep breath to keep her composure while her mind slowly put together what was going on.

Madara was alive. Alive and well. That meant he'd released the twotails on purpose. And now he was after Setsuna. After Fugaku.

She pushed herself up. Her clone quickly looked at her before doing the signs for the Shadow Clone jutsu. It was what Akari liked best about the technique. Her clones thought just like her. They already knew what she was going to do.

She gave the key to her new clone. "Lock the door after me," she said, just to make sure. "And take good care of them." It felt weird leaving her own daughter with Shadow Clones, despite knowing they were basically copies of herself. But she couldn't let Madara take Inori's son.

* * *

Her eyes scanned for Madara and Setsuna again as she was running up the stairs. They were on their way to the roof.

Madara eventually caught Setsuna. Dark chakra cloaked him. It was so dense that it was able to physically grab Setsuna, holding him in place. Madara walked up to him and Fugaku.

"Wait!" Akari yelled as soon as she reached the roof top. She was praying this situation wasn't as severe as she suspected, praying that words would be enough. Because she definitely did not plan on fighting Madara Uchiha.

Madara glanced at her, barely turned around, yet he'd stopped. "Ah, the little Hyuuga lady whom my niece considered her best friend. Still you apparently didn't even notice when she got murdered in the room next to you." His voice was surprisingly calm, cold. "I'm not blaming you though. You are just a victim of Hashirama's failed ideology." He turned back to Setsuna. "Give me Inori's son. I'm going to make sure he grows up safe."

"He's my son too. And he's staying here, in Konoha." Setsuna tried his best to free himself from Madara's chakra that wrapped around his feet. The Sharingan was glowing in his eyes. Yet it barely did him any good. Not against Madara. His eyes were on a whole other level.

There were many people in Konoha that were scared of Madara, many who distrusted him. But Akari had never been one of them. Yet she could feel her knees trembling as she slowly walked over to Setsuna and Fugaku. She could see the chakra around Madara. It poured out of his body and took on the form of a monster, similar to the one that was on a rampage in the other part of the village.

"Inori wouldn't want you two to fight over her son. Please, for the sake of both of them, stop this." She was now close enough to cut the chakra that captured Setsuna with her own. Yet that would most likely cause Madara to attack her. So she simply stopped next to him.

"Inori would want Fugaku to be safe. Give him to me. Or will take him."

Akari had no time to argue. Madara dashed towards them. The adrenaline in her body did the moving for her from then on. She rushed chakra into her own hands, cut Setsuna free. "Run!" she yelled at him while throwing herself between him and Madara.

Akari formed signs and spit a wave of water at Madara. It wasn't effective at all. The chakra cloaked Madara, almost like a shield surrounding his whole body. But at least it was enough to temporarily slow him down. She threw a smoke bomb, hindering his vision.

The smoke didn't affect her apart from the itching in her nose. So she went for his chakra points next. But Akari couldn't reach them. There was too much chakra. Too much surrounding him to cut through all.

She could feel something wrapping itself around her. It was a tail. The onetail.

"I always enjoyed seeing Inori and you together." Madara waved the smoke away with his fan, looked at Akari who was now the one caught by a tail of chakra. It barely looked like chakra anymore, so dense was it. It was firm, solid, like hardened sand. It was real. "The Hyuuga and the Uchiha. Our clans are like two sides of the same coin. The eye that sees and the eye that control. Together we might have been able to restore the glory of our ancestors. But I guess it is too late now. I haven't planned on killing you, Akari. But if you continue to stay in my way, I will."

Akari tried to cut herself free, but her arms were pressed tight against her body. Her hands couldn't reach. "Inori would want Fugaku to stay here. She loved Konoha," she gasped. The tail squeezed her, making it hard to breath.

"Inori is dead. Her wishes and dreams died with her. That's life."

Its grip tightened, and Akari could barely breath. She knew she would lose consciousness if this continued. So she gathered most of the chakra left in her body, releasing it all at once in every direction. She knew it would take a lot to destroy this tail. But it worked. The tail burst into sand at the sudden explosion of chakra around her. She was free.

Akari took deep breaths as she watched the onetail restore itself again around Madara. "It seems the sand beast is liking this," he calmly said, a soft grin on his lips. "It hasn't been fed in a while."

The tail reached for her again. Akari knew she had to dodge. She wasn't sure if she would be able to free herself a second time. She didn't have the stamina for this fight, while Madara's seemed to be endless.

Roots suddenly emerged from the ground all around her. They intercepted the tail that was heading for her.

Madara glanced behind him at the twotails. It was still rampaging at the other end of the village. "Huh, I was hoping it would distract you a bit longer... Hashirama."

Hashirama appeared between Madara and Akari. Takuma was by his side.

"How could you release one of those beasts on Konoha, Madara? Reseal it. Now."

Madara didn't move. "I don't care about Konoha. I just want Fugaku, so step out of the way. You said it yourself, he's all I have left."

"I'm sorry about the people you've lost. I'm sorry about Izuna. I'm sorry about Inori. But what you are doing here is wrong. You are killing innocent people. This is not why we have founded Konoha."

Madara chuckled. "It really isn't. But in the end, it was a Senju once more who killed an Uchiha. Something that was never supposed to happen again. But this time, it wasn't even you or Tobirama. It was a girl whose name I had never heard before. A weakling."

Akari bit her lip. She knew she wasn't supposed to say anything about the necklace. Not until Tobirama had handed it in. But if there was the slightest chance the information she had could change Madara's mind, she had to share it.

"It wasn't Kumiko!" she blurted out. "I believe it was Kumogakure who killed them both. Not Kumiko." She told them about the necklace and the hidden formula. They all carefully listened. But only Hashirama and Takuma seemed truly interested in this new information. Madara only laughed.

"Do you hear that, Hashirama? It seems like a war with Kumogakure is awaiting you. But I don't care. I don't care who killed her. She's dead. Dead because she felt safe. Dead because you made her feel safe, Hashirama!" he started yelling. "Inori would have never lost to that no one of a Senju had they fought on the battlefield. She was stabbed when she least expected it, with her own child in her arms." He straightened himself again, calming down a bit. "Inori is dead because you declared this village a safe place. She is dead because she trusted you."

"You know I loved Inori like my own child, Madara. I don't want to kill you. But I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village, no matter the reasons. Even if it is you. You've gone too far, Madara. Innocents have died because of you today."

Akari took a step backwards as her former teacher went into sage mode. She knew what would happen next. And it scared her. It terrified her. She didn't want Madara and Hashirama to fight each other. "Sensei. Chiyome, Sakumo and Hanako… they are all here in the Hokage building. Please don't fight. Not here." She tried to keep her voice down. Hashirama nodded.

Madara still didn't move. "Innocents died today because this village is a failure. They died because they are too weak. We wanted to create a place where no one would have to lose their loved ones anymore, right? But we've done the opposite. I realise that now. Our dream is a failure. Accept it."

Akari didn't know what was going on in Hashirama's head. She couldn't read his face. It was completely blank.

Hashirama eventually turned to his son. "Takuma, make sure Akari and Setsuna are safe. I believe Madara and I have a matter to sort out."

* * *

Akari observed the ensuing fight between Madara and Hashirama. To her relief, Hashirama pulled Madara away from the Hokage building, away from the village. They moved further and further away, leaving a trace of destruction behind them.

"Do you know where Setsuna went?"

Akari activated her Byakugan again. She was low on chakra, but it was enough to search for Setsuna and Fugaku. She told Takuma their location once she'd found them.

"Can I go back to the Hokage building? My daughter is there. Sakumo and Hanako too."

Takuma nodded, but stopped her before she could run off. "I'm really sorry about Inori," he said, eyes locked at the ground in front of him.

Akari swallowed. She still couldn't believe what a mess life suddenly was, how fast life could turn into a mess. Only two days ago, her life had been as peaceful as it ever was. And now Konoha was literally on fire. Her life was on fire.

"It's just… I know we never got along well. I know I might have been… unfair to you. All three of you. Especially Inori. And I'm sorry about that. I just wanted you to know that."

She nodded. "It's fine. I understand."

Takuma had never kept it a secret that he despised Akari, Inori and Riku for being his father's students. It had long been tradition that fathers trained their sons, mothers their daughters. Jutsu were handed down from generation to generation. But Hashirama changed this. Hashirama wanted clans to open up to each other. To be one big family. So he didn't teach his own son. He taught children from other clans.

Takuma smiled. "Maybe my little sister will grow up to have you or Riku as her teacher. She would be lucky." He left to find Setsuna.

* * *

Akari was back in the laboratory with the three children and her clones. They were all quietly sitting on the ground next to each other. Chiyome was on Akari's lap, snuggling into her, half asleep. Sakumo laughed happily every time the ground underneath them shook violently. He didn't understand what it meant, what it implied. The fighting outside was still going on, but the children didn't know. Their world was still intact.

Akari's own chakra levels were low, so she asked one of her clones what was going on outside. Part of her didn't want to know. She graved for childish ignorance. But she was an adult. She had to know.

"I can't find the twotails anymore," she said. A moment of silence followed as the clone searched for Hashirama and Madara. "I can't see the onetail and ninetails either."

Akari prayed the fight was over. She prayed for someone to knock at the door and tell her they could come out again.

And suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Akari's clone looked at it with the Byakugan.

"It's Takuma," she said.

Akari went over to the door and opened it. Takuma was out of breath as he pushed past her.

"Where is Hanako?"

Hanako was still sleeping soundly in her clone's arms.

"Give her to me," he urged.

Akari's clone hesitated.

"What's going on?" Akari asked, watching as Takuma grabbed Hanako and made his way back to the door. She blocked him before he could reach it. "Where are you taking her?"

"Madara's dead."

Akari swallowed. She'd known this was how it would end. But somehow, she still couldn't believe it was true. First Inori, and now Madara.

"The onetail is about to break out. Father is holding it back for now, but we need to reseal it. Fast."

"Reseal it?" Akari's eyes fell on the little girl that had peacefully slept through all of this, the little bundle of innocence, all wrapped up in soft cloth. "Don't tell me you are going to…"

"Infants have the highest odds of surviving the sealing. This is the best option we have. Step out of the way."

Akari didn't move, but she also didn't stop Takuma from walking past her. "Is Mito here then? She was with Tobirama and the twotails earlier, but they are gone. What happened?"

"It seems my uncle teleported himself and the twotails out of the village and mother followed them. We haven't found them yet." He stopped in the door, looked down at his little sister.

"Then how are you going to seal it? Only Mito can seal a tailed beast without – "

"We don't have time to wait," he interrupted her. "Father is wounded, and the twotails already destroyed too much of Konoha. We can't allow the onetail to go on a rampage as well. My father will do the sealing."

Akari stared at him. "Then who is going to…?" She didn't want to finish her sentence. And part of her already knew the answer. Sealing a tailed beast in a new vessel was anything but easy. The Uzumaki clan were the only ones who had ever successfully sealed them away without inserting someone's life force into the seal. For everyone else, sealing a tailed beast meant using a human sacrifice.

Akari quietly watched Takuma leave. It wasn't her place to stop him.

* * *

At the end of the day, Madara was dead, killed by Hashirama. And again, a Senju killed another Uchiha. The two tailed beasts he'd possessed had been resealed. One into Tobirama with the help of Mito, the other into her daughter, Hanako. Takuma sacrificed his life for the latter. Silence returned to the village as the fighting was over again, but the peace that had lasted for almost twenty years was gone.

Riku was released a few days later. Both Setsuna Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stood up for his innocence. A select few of the higher ranked shinobi knew there was more to the murder of Inori Uchiha. But the general public continued believing that the cause of all evil had been Kumiko Senju.

Months later, the merchant selling the necklace had yet to be found. The hidden formula had yet to be identified. The case was shelved. Because with the loss of Madara, Konoha's manpower suffered immensely. And other hidden villages brought different troubles.

* * *

Akari put the documents down on the Hokage's desk. She wasn't exactly sure what they contained, but she had a fair idea. She could have read them. Looking inside sealed envelopes was no hindrance for someone with the Byakugan. Yet she refrained from doing so. She was glad enough her father still trusted her with clan affairs, even if she was only running errands for him.

"Thank you," Hashirama said, but he wasn't looking at her. He stared out of the window, at Konoha. Akari couldn't help but wonder how tired he was looking.

She looked at his desk while trying to come up with something to involve him in a conversation. It had been months since Hashirama killed Madara. Months since Inori died, the girl he'd practically raised alongside Madara. He'd lost two children and his best friend back then. Akari knew the pain of the latter, but she couldn't even imagine what the death of a child had to feel like.

His desk was stacked with piles of documents and papers, most bore the seal of one of Konoha's clans. They were preparing for war.

"How is your daughter doing?" Akari asked. Hashirama was the kind of person who loved bragging with his children and grandchild. And at least he still had Hanako, who Akari knew was growing up perfectly.

"She's handling it well," he answered shortly, not taking his eyes off the window. A soft smile formed on his lips. "She's a little sunshine. I feel like she's taking after Tsunade already."

Akari wanted to ask about the war, about the state of affairs between Konoha and Kumogakure. There were plenty of rumours going around the village once again. Rumours that allies of Konoha had been obliterated, of lands that had been taken over, of an alliance between Kumo and Iwa. But politics weren't her world anymore. They hadn't been for the last three years.

"What about Tobirama?" she asked instead.

He sighed, but finally turned around to her. He sat back down at his desk and put the documents she'd delivered on one of the piles. "My brother claims he's fine. He always does. But having a tailed beast sealed in you… it messes with your chakra system. He refuses to have it sealed away completely, which obviously would be the safer option. But losing access to the power of two of our three beasts… he knows it wouldn't put us in a great spot." Hashirama stared back at the window. Dark circles underlined his eyes. "I'm just glad he survived the sealing."

Akari wished there was something she could do to cheer her teacher up. She'd done her duty and delivered the documents, but she couldn't leave him alone. "You know, back when Chiyome was kidnapped… you promised me to invite me for dinner. You never actually did. So how about I invite you over this week? Chiyome is so focused on Sakumo, I think some more friends would be good for her."

Hashirama smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm kind of busy these days, sorry Akari."

She dropped her gaze, thinking. "Well, if you need anything… you can always tell me." She wasn't someone to push herself onto people, so she decided to leave.

"Akari…"

She turned around to him again almost immediately.

"Do you think… I have my priorities backwards?"

She didn't quite understand his question.

"Those were Madara's last words to me. _'You have your priorities all backwards. It will ultimately lead to Konoha's failure'_. I wonder… was he right?"

"Your priority is the well-being of Konoha, right? That's the priority a Hokage should have."

He still gazed out of the window. "I killed my best friend. Sacrificed my own son. Sealed a monster into my infant daughter. And yes, I did it for the good of Konoha."

Akari's heart skipped a beat at his words. Hashirama was a hero in Konoha. A god. But it wasn't hard to see that he didn't feel like a hero.

There was a sudden knock at the door and Sasuke Sarutobi entered before Akari got to reply anything to her teacher. He'd been away on a mission. She didn't know what mission though.

Akari waited for a moment, hoping Hashirama would ask Sasuke for another minute. But he didn't. He quietly looked at her. He wanted her to go.

So she bowed to both men and left, knowing it wasn't appropriate to stay any longer.

She slowly walked back to the playing ground where she'd left Chiyome with Riku, wondering if there was anything she could do to fix things. Fix her teacher at the very least. But she suddenly felt like she was nothing more than a former student.

Riku was sitting on a bench, watching Sakumo and Chiyome play together. She silently sat down next to him. Life had become quiet without Inori.

"Are we going to war?" he asked her after a while, expecting her to have learned something.

"I don't know."

"We should be going to war."

She glanced at him. "How can you say that while watching our children play? Don't wish for bloodshed."

"They killed them! Murdered them!" he immediately replied. Akari knew he was talking about Kumogakure.

"We can't say that for sure. The necklace is our only proof. We'll probably never know. The sealing formula could belong to basically anyone."

"You know how it is, right? They set us up. They set all of this up. They are cowards who were scared of Konoha's strength, of Madara and Hashirama. So they plotted this to cause internal conflict. Everyone knew Madara would turn against Konoha if something were to happen to Inori. _Especially_ if it was because of the Senju."

Akari's gaze dropped. She knew that already. Yet she didn't want war.

"What about Sakumo? Don't go out there risking your life for revenge. He's already lost his mother."

"Do you just want them to get away with it? They are attacking us, Akari!"

"I know that. I just…" She didn't know what she wanted to say. Akari had grown up in the golden era of Konoha's first twenty years. The first twenty years without war. But she still knew death. She knew killing. And if there was one thing she was certain about these days, then that she didn't want any of that for her daughter.

But war didn't care about hopes. All it ever did was destroy them.


	5. Year 4

It had been many years since Riku Hatake moved to Konoha, since he became a shinobi. And while Akari had always accused him of childish naiveté, Riku was aware what it meant to be a shinobi. He had spied, had poisoned, had killed people with his own hands.

But now that Riku walked down the silent streets of Kokumotsu Village, he wondered if Akari had been right after all. His stomach turned again and again as his eyes moved from one dead body to the other. They were lying in the streets, both shinobi and civilians. All dead.

A sweetish smell hung in the air. Sweet and rotten. Riku swallowed. He prayed he would be able to keep his last dinner down. If he looked anything like he felt, Hashirama would surely think he was weak. And Riku didn't want his former teacher to think that.

But Hashirama barely even noticed Riku was right next to him. He walked over to a house with the front door wide open, looked inside.

Riku followed him and looked past his shoulder. Two children were lying on the wooden floor, huddled up into a corner. Their mother's body was on top of them, her arms still wrapped around them.

Again, Riku was sure he was going to throw up. But he kept it down.

"Any survivors?" Hashirama asked Danzo, who just came back with a report on the situation of the village.

Danzo shook his head. "None."

There was a moment of silence.

"Take their bodies, bring them to the village gate. I will make a grave so we can bury them." Hashirama walked off.

The grave was done within seconds using Earth Jutsu. Hashirama's shinobi brought one corpse after the other and laid them all down in the big hole.

Danzo took note of every body, recording how many people were dead, how many men, women, children, and in what manner they'd been killed.

The village gate next to them was no more than a small wooden arch, marking the entrance and exit to Kokumotsu Village. It showed what a small village it really was, hidden in rice fields. It barely had any shinobi to defend itself. Most of the dead were farmers.

Riku went back to get the two children and their mother. He made sure to lie them down next to each other.

"A lot of bees," Hiruzen quietly noted while looking at the bodies. Some of them were covered in bee stings. Others even had dead bees in their mouths and noses.

"The Kamizuru clan. Iwagakure was involved in this. Again." Danzo looked over the now finished list he'd created. They'd hoped to find anything linking Kumogakure to this attack, but there was nothing. They'd hoped to arrive at the village before the attackers even, to encounter Kumo shinobi in person, but they had been too late.

Hashirama quietly put the earth back, closing the hole and putting the bodies to their eternal rest. One sign was enough for flowers to start growing all over the grave. It was the Hokage's way of showing respect to the dead.

"The bodies have started decomposing already, but considering the hot temperatures, not too much time should have passed since Iwa's attack." Hiruzen had a calm and collected attitude, despite standing in front of a mass grave, and so did his friend Danzo. It was something they had learned from their former teacher Tobirama and Hiruzen's father Sasuke. Hiruzen continued, "we should send scouts out. We could still find those responsible for the attack."

Hashirama quietly nodded. His thoughts were somewhere else.

Three shinobi immediately stepped up on their own. They were the scout team, standing quietly while awaiting further instructions from their Hokage.

Hashirama eventually managed to take his eyes off the newly dug grave covered with flowers. "Go and find them. Track them back to their village. Find out as much as you can, especially anything concerning their next plans and targets. Report back to Konoha."

"But Lord First, you can't mean we are going back to Konoha now? We should go after them too. Get our revenge," Danzo immediately intervened. "We need to hit back."

Riku found himself agreeing with Danzo for the first time in his life. "He's right, sensei. We can't let them get away with this. Kumo and Iwa need to pay!"

"Killing the shinobi who attacked this village won't do us any good. We need more information first. Especially if Kumo was even involved in this at all."

"We have enough evidence that Iwagakure is behind these attacks. And enough intel to know they have a joined forces with Kumo. We need to start acting!" Riku urged.

"It's like Tobirama-sensei said, we'll continue being on the backfoot if we don't start a counter-attack," Danzo added.

"Quiet, both of you!" Hashirama's voice came out harsher than he'd intended, and harsher than Riku had ever heard his teacher speak. But the world made it hard for Hashirama to be the calm and cheerful person he wanted to be. Konoha had been passively attacked over a span of months. There were silent assassinations of landlords, followed by stolen goods and destroyed harvests. And lately, whole villages were the targets, and most of the time, the attacked didn't live long enough to speak their attackers' names. Konoha was never directly involved in any of this. On the contrary, wherever Hashirama went, incidents stopped occurring. They quietly starved Konoha of its allies and supplies.

And Hashirama didn't want to be the first one to openly declare a war on someone.

"We will go back to Konoha for now. I will ask the Tsuchikage for another meeting. This time, we have enough evidence against them. If they still deny their involvement and are unwilling to negotiate a treaty, we can still choose actions over words."

Everyone silently went back to their assigned tasks. The scouts left for their new mission while the rest of Hashirama's team prepared for their journey back to Konoha. All but Riku, who didn't leave Hashirama's side.

"Have you seen all these dead children here? They slaughtered them, only because this village provided us with food. Innocent children! They don't deserve words!" Riku's voice was heated. He felt heated. If he had been given the opportunity to march towards either Iwa or Kumo right away, he was surely going to take it.

Hashirama barely flinched at his words. He looked at Riku, then away, then at Riku again, considering whether it was worth his time to continue this discussion. Or whether he had the energy to continue. He eventually sighed and sat down next to the freshly dug grave. "You really think if I went to Iwa now and killed their Tsuchikage, things would miraculously go back to normal? Naïve. Kumo is their ally. Kiri might soon join them as well. And you know who, as of now, is the only other known Jinchuuriki apart from myself able to control their beast, right?"

Riku didn't answer. He didn't care about these beasts.

"The Raikage has been actively using the eighttail's power for far longer than I have. A war would lead to much more casualties than you saw today."

"So you are saying we are too weak to defend ourselves and our allies? What are we going to do if the negotiations with Iwa fail? Keep watching as they slowly starve us?"

"I never said we were too weak. If there is a way to resolve this conflict peacefully, I will take it. But if not, I will not continue to let this happen. It will take many sacrifices. But we will come out victorious."

* * *

The first time Akari killed someone, she was five years old, only a year younger than her own daughter now. She didn't remember much of her early childhood, like most children didn't. But she remembered that day, all of it. It was before the Hyuuga clan joined Konoha. Back when they still had a small village of their own in the Land of Water.

Her father had left with several clan members for a mission, when a team of three enemy shinobi infiltrated their village, their house. They quietly killed the guards, the branch members, then killed her mother.

They didn't have time to seal her mother's eyes, or maybe they didn't know how to, so they took her whole head with them to not accidentally damage the eyes.

Akari watched while sitting on the bed with her little baby brother. One of them grabbed her brother. Akari didn't try to stop them. Only when one of them wanted to take her too did she refuse to walk. She threw herself at the ground, forcing the stranger to pick her up. He put something into her mouth, something that kept her from screaming.

That's when Akari did what her father had always taught her. She put her small hand on the man's heart. He didn't care, barely paid any attention to her at all. It took a while until she thought she'd found the right spot. She couldn't use her Byakugan yet, so she had to remember the exact location, feel it. The man was already carrying her outside when she infused chakra into his heart. It took a certain rhythm to get the right effect. But her father had taught her a song with just the right melody. She quietly hummed it while infusing wave after wave of chakra.

The man crumbled to his knees, apparently in a lot of pain all of a sudden.

His teammates didn't understand when he simply dropped dead. His heart stopped. They were in a hurry, slightly panicked, so the one who was carrying her mother's head picked her up next. Child in one arm, head in the other.

They ran outside. Akari repeated what she'd done before. It was easy enough.

Back then, Akari was too young to understand what she'd done. She didn't know what death meant, what killing was. She only did what her father had taught her.

The Hyuuga clan joined Konoha two weeks after the incident. Because just like Madara and Hashirama, they wanted their children to grow up safe.

* * *

Akari's hand connected with Chiyome's cheek. The little girl almost fell over from the impact of the hit, but Akari's other hand made sure to catch her. She grabbed her daughter's dress and threw her across the room. The girl collided with a wall and fell to the ground.

"You should have dodged," Akari coldly said. It had been hard at first to hurt her daughter and went against all those motherly instincts to protect offspring no matter what. But Akari knew she couldn't show mercy. Her daughter had to learn that during fights feelings didn't matter.

Chiyome was trying her best. But she just wasn't fast enough, nor strong enough. She was a child, a little girl who couldn't understand yet that her strongest weapon were still her big innocent eyes. But a shinobi barely ever looked into their victim's eyes before ending their life.

Yet instead of crying, Chiyome got up again. It was such a small thing that made Akari immensely proud already. Her daughter was a fighter.

"Why are you even teaching her the Gentle Fist stance? It might just prove a complete waste of time if she hasn't inherited the Byakugan." Haruto was sitting at the side of the training dojo, partially observing them. He was playing a small bamboo flute, not to practice a song or his skills, but simply to pass time.

Akari ignored his comment and walked over to her daughter instead. "Go get washed and dressed. We are done for today."

Haruto watched the little girl run off. "Are you really going to sign her up at the Academy today? I never thought you would want her to become a shinobi."

"What choice do I have?" Akari hadn't bothered wearing training clothes. She barely ever had to move when training her daughter, so she stayed with her brother and waited for Chiyome to come back.

"Maybe you should have let her father raise her. After all, you are always displeased with our clan's traditions and affairs. He could have raised her an ordinary child. Or did he not want her?"

"This is not about our clan," Akari said, ignoring most of the passive aggressiveness her brother threw at her. "It's about this whole world, Haruto. I'm displeased by the world. I couldn't possible let my daughter stay a weak and defenceless child, when in this world, your life only matters if you are strong and special."

Haruto played a few more tunes on his flute before saying, "The civilians here in Konoha do have a nice life though. It seems they barely ever have to worry about anything. They just prepare food or harvest crops all day long."

"The strong rule this world, and the weak can only pray that they let them live their lives in peace. Have you not heard what happened in Kokumotsu Village, little brother? My daughter will not become a nameless casualty."

Chiyome came back into the training dojo with lots of hairclips in her hands. She handed them to her mother, waiting for her to properly tie her kimono dress and do her hair. She had heard her mother's last words, but she couldn't quite make sense of them.

Akari brushed her daughter's hair and tied it into a bun while the girl happily sang the song Akari's father had taught her when she was little, and that Akari had now taught her daughter.

She didn't know if Chiyome was ready to become a shinobi, didn't know if children were ever ready for such a life. The little girl was no more than four years old, but war always required children to grow up faster. Which was why Akari had decided to register Chiyome at the Academy. They would teach her how to defend herself. And it would give Akari the opportunity to work on her own life again, to be something more than a mother. While Akari loved her daughter more than anything in the world, she had not been raised to solely be a mother. She'd been raised for much more. And now that Riku had left for another mission, had gone to war, her heart ached to join him. She never wished for war, but now that it was here, she had to take part in ending it.

Haruto had stayed close to them, leaning against a wall. There was more he wanted to discuss with his sister, but he couldn't quite find the right words. It had always been that way. When one child grew up in the shadows of the other, it was hard for that child to seek advice from the one shielding them from the sun.

"You sound like you and I have a choice," Haruto eventually continued the conversation from earlier. "But we don't get to decide our lives either. It's like you always said, our clan and village decide our fate."

"And you know why that is? Because they are stronger than us. You and I might never stand at the very top. There will always be people above us. But at least _you_ get to stand at the top of the Hyuuga clan one day. You will get to decide the fate of our family."

Haruto handed his flute to Chiyome, who'd been eyeing it all this time. The tunes she produced sounded better than Haruto had expected. But of course, Akari had already taught her daughter how to play a flute. "I'm not too sure about that," he eventually admitted to Akari. "It feels like father and grandfather will never grant me any decision-making power. Father doesn't trust me with the clan. And the advice grandfather has given me hasn't helped so far."

"So now you are asking me for advice?" Akari smiled at her brother. She liked the idea of her little brother seeking her out for help. He rarely ever did. "You know the two have very distinct views on life and the clan, right? You shouldn't take grandfather's advice when you are seeking father's approval."

"But at least grandfather is listening to me. Father is not. And I don't know how to get him to listen. I always do whatever he asks of me, yet he never cares for my opinion."

Akari knew well enough what the problem was. She knew them both better than they knew themselves, one of the perks of just spending years observing people. But she knew the reality wasn't anything Haruto wanted to hear.

"Are you sure you have your own opinion?" she carefully asked.

Haruto's attitude immediately became more defensive. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm just wondering, if maybe, you care too much for the opinions of others, little brother. When you are talking to father, you mostly just say what you think he wants to hear. I know that, and father does too. If that doesn't work, you fall back to grandfather's words."

"They are our clan's leaders and elders. Obviously their opinion should be mine too."

Akari frowned at her brother's words. "Well, you shouldn't get upset if father doesn't want to hear your opinion when you have nothing new to offer." She didn't mean to insult or offend him. But she wanted to be honest. She wanted her brother to do better.

"I can't picture father appreciating my honest opinion. At least not if it differs from his own."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

She clipped the last hair clip into her daughter's hair.

Chiyome's hair was perfectly done and her dress neatly tied up. Akari knew all that would be lost once she left Chiyome to play outside with Sakumo, but her daughter still loved dressing up in the same fashion as her mother. And Akari herself had always been taught that good looks were equally important to a kunoichi than her fighting skills. They opened up new doors. It was a notion that Akari would pass on to her daughter.

Akari and Chiyome walked down the long wooden hallway together, on their way to the front door. Akari had already been at the Academy to enrol her daughter before, but they had told her to see Tobirama directly for that. He, having founded the Academy, oversaw registration.

Her father crossed their way. He looked down at Chiyome's perfectly done hair and the little kimono dress she was wearing.

"Are you not training her today?" he asked in his usual monotonous and sober manner.

"We are done for today. I'm going to pick up Sakumo from the Academy, and then see Lord Tobirama to register Chiyome to the Academy as well."

The sudden frown on her father's face was hard to miss. "You should let his family handle the child while the father is gone. Sakumo is not your responsibility."

Sakumo always stayed at the Hyuuga compound whenever Riku was gone. At first, her father had not allowed it. He didn't tolerate Riku Hatake's son living at his house. But Akari had reacted by staying at Riku's house with the two children instead, something her father tolerated even less.

"Riku doesn't have family here. I'm his family," Akari calmly reminded her father.

She slightly bowed her head while walking past him.

"Akari…" Her father stopped her. "Have you given thought to my proposition? You can still get married. You are still my daughter. Even after all that has happened. I know a lot of men who would be proud to call you their wife."

"I told you, I'd rather not, father."

"Your eyes are pure. It would be a shame if you didn't pass them on."

Akari's eyes fell onto her daughter. Obviously, Chiyome never crossed his mind when he was speaking about 'passing on pure eyes', despite her having the same violet eyes as Akari.

"I understand these aren't the best times for marriage and carrying a child. But after peace has been restored, we will find a fine husband for you." With these words, Akari's father left.

Akari watched after him. Her hand subconsciously reached for the caged-bird symbol on her forehead. Part of her was glad that her father still considered her his trusted daughter. Yet her heart ached for freedom.

* * *

Akari picked Sakumo up from the Academy and then left him and Chiyome on a playground to go to the Hokage building.

Tobirama was not in his office, so once again, Akari knocked at the door of his laboratory. It took a long time and another knock until the door finally opened.

"What do you want?" he asked in a grumpy tone.

"I'd like to enrol Chiyome in the Academy. I was told to speak to you about the matter." Akari could hear groaning coming from inside the laboratory, sounding like someone was in pain.

"I'm busy. Come back some other time." Akari could spot blood on his hand before he shut the door again.

She stood still for a moment. Part of her wanted to activate the Byakugan to see what was going on inside that room. But using the Byakugan to spy on people in Konoha, no matter if they were mere villagers or shinobi, was strictly forbidden. And spying on Tobirama of all people would be considered nothing less than treason. So she turned on her heels and went back up again, though her mind stayed down there, running through plausible scenarios and explanations.

Right before Akari could leave the Hokage building again, the door opened and Hashirama appeared in front of her.

"Sensei!" she exclaimed in surprise. "I had no idea you would be back already." The look on his face alarmed her. He didn't meet her eyes. "What happened?" Akari couldn't help but expect the worst.

"We were too late," he replied shortly and walked past her.

"What about our shinobi? Is everyone unharmed?" She abandoned her plan of going back to the children and followed Hashirama instead.

He nodded. "What brought you here? Did you visit my little brother?" He tried to smile, but it wasn't quite convincing.

"I did. I wanted to register Chiyome at the Academy. But it seems like Tobirama is busy right now." Akari followed him up the stairs to his office. She didn't really have any business with the Hokage, at least no official one. "Is Tobirama working on a new jutsu?"

"I wouldn't know. I guess he probably is."

Akari knew he was holding something back from her. Hashirama was one of the most renowned shinobi, yet he was surprisingly bad at lying. Inori had always made fun of it back in the days, blaming his bad poker face for all the losses he suffered in card games.

She regretted her question. She wanted to make sure her teacher was alright, because he certainly did not look like he was alright. He hadn't done so in months. Yet her nosiness had taken over for just a moment.

"Sensei… I mean, Lord First. Now that my daughter is old enough to join the Academy, I would appreciate it if you could consider me for missions again," she directed the conversation into a different direction. Whatever it was that caused troubles to Hashirama and the village, she wanted to be involved. She wanted to help solve it. "I'm a shinobi. A good one if I may say. I don't want to just sit around and watch.

Hashirama stopped and smiled at her. "Actually, I might just have the right job for you. I could really need a new advisor."

Akari frowned. "Is this you trying to tell me you are not going to send me on any missions? Tobirama is your advisor."

"Tobirama isn't really an advisor. He's like a third hand of mine. … A hand that never does what I want it to do." He opened the door to his office and offered Akari to enter. "There aren't many shinobi I trust as much as I trust you. I'll be glad to have you around, and I'll be glad to have you involved."

Akari smiled and nodded.

Not much time passed until there was a short knock at the door and Mito entered with Hanako in her arms. Akari quietly watched Hashirama's face light up as he saw his little daughter, who was happily smiling back at him. Mito let her down and she took some small, careful steps towards her father, letting herself fall into his arms once she'd reached him.

Akari felt she ought to leave, but also didn't want to interrupt the moment between Hashirama and Hanako. His face beamed with pride and love. He seemed like a completely different person from just moments ago. Akari was glad to see him this way. This was how she'd gotten to know him, back when he started teaching her and Inori.

But Mito too was only waiting for the right moment to dampen his mood again.

"A messenger from Sunagakure came here during your absence," she said after a while. Her eyes fell on Akari, but she calmly continued once she realised Hashirama was content with her presence. "Sunagakure has been pressured by Iwagakure it seems. They stressed they want to stay neutral in this conflict, but were unsure if this was possible, seeing how this conflict was growing. They are considering ending our alliance. Apparently, they worry other nations might target them if they don't."

The two women both watched Hashirama's face darken again, but he still returned his daughter's sincere smiles and grins. The colour of her hair fitted her attitude, and was of a warm red. Her eyes turned more and more into a vivid green. Everyone was sure that she was going to look exactly like her mother, a true Uzumaki.

"I'm afraid the matter is urgent," Mito continued. "The messenger is still here in Konoha. Tobirama offered him accommodation, but you should tend to the matter quickly. We can't afford to lose more allies."

"I will," Hashirama quickly assured her. "Let's discuss the matter tonight. We only just came back, and we could all use a little break. Right, Akari?" He let his daughter down, but Hanako wanted to be held by him, so he picked her back up. "You should come too," he said to Akari.

Akari nodded and took the opportunity to leave them alone. Obviously Hashirama would want to spend the little time he had with his family. And Akari too had children to pick up again.

* * *

In the evening, Akari met with Hashirama again in the conference room. Tobirama and Mito were present as well. Akari stopped in the doorway, wondering if it was really alright for her to be there. She'd wanted to go on missions, not be part of official meetings involving Hashirama and his family.

"You invited the Hyuuga?" Tobirama barely even looked at her. His attitude only reinforced her doubts.

"Akari is my new assistant," Hashirama declared while sitting down at the round table.

"I'm your assistant," Tobirama shortly replied, sitting down next to Hashirama's right side.

"Well, if you are my right hand, she can be my left hand." Hashirama smiled and pointed to the empty seat to his left.

Tsunade and her mother entered next. Akari wondered if she had accidentally ended up in a family gathering of the Senju clan. The little girl was carrying a can filled with tea and went ahead to carefully fill everyone's cup. She didn't bother asking whether they wanted tea or not but assumed that everyone would if she was the one serving.

Once the last cup was successfully filled without even spilling one drop, she triumphantly stood in the middle of the room, savouring the attention and praise her grandfather threw at her. Hashirama was applauding the little girl and her tea-serving skills. But to the dismay of Tsunade, her mother soon ended her little show and mentioned the three little words Tsunade despised most, "going to bed". The little girl immediately grabbed onto a table leg, screaming her lungs out when her mother attempted to pick her up.

"Just leave her here. She won't be in the way," Hashirama said, and Tsunade immediately agreed.

"But… it's sleeping time." Her mother watched as Tsunade was already climbing onto Hashirama's lap and made herself comfortable. She sighed but left without her daughter.

"Unbelievable," Tobirama muttered. "Keep spoiling her and she'll eventually turn into a little devil."

"He's right, Hashirama," Mito agreed. "We are discussing confidential matters here. This is no place for a little child."

Hashirama only laughed and wave their worries away.

Akari wasn't quite sure if she preferred this to be a casual family gathering or an official meeting between Konoha's leaders.

"Can we start now?" Mito eyed Tsunade with narrow eyes but didn't bother to continue arguing. She knew her husband wasn't going to change his mind and tell their cute little granddaughter to leave. "As I said earlier, Sunagakure is thinking about ending our alliance. Yet they made a suggestion how we could change their mind. A rather bold one. They said they would feel more assured about our alliance if we could provide them with a tailed beast. They are the only large village without one and feel like they might become the target of Iwa and Kumo because of this."

"With a tailed beast? Impossible. I'm not sacrificing my brother nor my daughter by extracting the beasts from them," Hashirama immediately said. Tsunade nodded to agree with him.

Tobirama had been the one to welcome Sunagakure's messenger during Hashirama's absence, so he continued: "That's what I told them as well. But they basically expect a token from us to show them this alliance between our villages is worth continuing." He spoke calmly, yet he wore his usual frown. "I'm afraid if this continues, we will soon have the whole world against us. Not even you are strong enough to face four nations at once, older brother."

"Then let them stay neutral. Just because they threaten to end our alliance does not mean they are considering waging war on us."

Tobirama and Mito exchanged looks with each other that told Hashirama they both disagreed.

"Then what do you two suggest? Even if I wanted to, I can't provide them with a tailed beast. They are already sealed, and the risk to reseal them is too big for me to take."

"Then we should discuss our actions against Iwagakure next. Even if Sunagakure doesn't actively attack us, it would already cause problems if they simply allow Iwagakure safe trespassing through their lands. We should act now, before Iwagakure can reach out to Suna."

"Actually, there might be a way to secure our alliance with Sunagakure," Tobirama said. He immediately had Hashirama's attention. "Marriage. A common practice to strengthen the bonds between two parties."

The expression on Mito's face made it obvious that Tobirama had not discussed this topic with her before. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure marriage will be enough at this point. They were quite clear they expected nothing less than a tailed beast," she said.

There was a moment of silence, though Tobirama wasn't finished yet.

"If I married someone from Suna…" he carefully suggested.

Hashirama leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He didn't like the idea. Tsunade took the opportunity to climb up his shoulders. His glance eventually fell on Akari, who had been content just listening. When she had asked Hashirama to go back to her work as a shinobi, she definitely hadn't expected him to involve her into decisions regarding Konoha's future that very evening, yet he now expected to hear her opinion.

She looked at Tobirama, whose eyes were fixed on the tea in front of him. She couldn't quite believe that this had been a sincere suggestion. Because it was not a good one. "Hashirama-sensei, the Lord First, is strong, massively so. But would I have to question our standing point in this war if we were to lose Tobirama now. The problems with Iwa and Kumo would not disappear. And our situation would look much dire without him."

Tobirama remained silent. He wasn't shocked or surprised that his proposal had been declined so fast. And suddenly, Akari realised why. There was a different suggestion on Tobirama's mind, one he didn't quite dare speak aloud. He wasn't the only one who would be a suitable match for a marriage arrangement and met the requirement of being a vessel of a tailed beast.

Mito too figured it out. "You cannot possibly be considering this!" she firmly said, her eyes narrowing at Hashirama. "She's our daughter, not some goods used for negotiation. Shame on you Tobirama for even thinking this for one second!"

"You don't have to tell me that," Hashirama quietly responded. But the thought that this might not be the worst idea remained on everyone's heads.

Tobirama calmly continued his reasoning. "At this point, Sunagakure might be a safer place for Hanako than Konoha. So far, nothing suggests that it got leaked she has the onetail sealed in her. Sunagakure could raise her for a few years, at least until this conflict with Iwa is over. Marriage arrangements might not even be necessary."

"Sunagakure is basically threatening us to hand over a tailed beast and you want to reward them with our daughter?" Mito was one of the greatest kunoichi in Konohagakure. And she had always been sort of a role-model for Akari after her mother had died. She embodied everything Akari thought a female shinobi should be. Elegant, strong, composed, and respected by everyone. And Akari couldn't help but picture herself in her situation. Giving your child away for the sake of the village had to be the biggest sacrifice.

But Hashirama had already sacrificed his son's life for the village when he sealed the onetail in Hanako.

"This is not only about pleasing Suna," Tobirama spoke again. "Once the other villages find out that Hanako is a Jinchuuriki, they will target her. This conflict will eventually move to Konoha. This way, Hanako could be safe, our alliance with Suna secured, and we would technically still own the onetail."

Their meeting ended there. Hashirama needed time to think this over before personally meeting with the messenger from Sunagakure. Mito's position on this was obvious. She didn't want her daughter to grow up in a different country, far away from her. But in the end, it was Hashirama who made the final decisions.

* * *

Only two weeks later, Hanako moved to Sunagakure, accompanied only by a select handful of Hashirama's and Mito's relatives and trusted guards. Mito had wanted to accompany her daughter personally, and stay with her for at least a while. But she hadn't been allowed. Officially, Hashirama's daughter had died of a bad fever. No one was supposed to know that the little red-haired girl in Sunagakure was both a Senju and a Jinchuuriki.

Wedding arrangements had not yet been made. The current Kazekage, second of his title, was an old man, and his son, despite being in his twenties, had been deemed too old as well by Mito to ever marry her daughter. So the topic had been put off and Hanako was to be raised by the Kazekage's son as his own daughter.

Weeks passed, weeks in which Hashirama never saw his daughter again. It almost felt like she had truly died. And instead, Hashirama had to prepare for a war with Iwagakure, a war he never wanted.

* * *

Beneath Konoha's streets and houses, deep underground, lay the secret tunnels of Konoha. Most people didn't know of their existence and entrances and even less were allowed to enter. It was down there that war prisoners were kept, that enemy shinobi were interrogated. It was the dark side of Konoha, the shadow of the village.

Days ago, Konoha had caught two spies from Kumogakure in their streets. Those were the kind of shinobi that were brought down into the tunnels. There Torture and Interrogation Force worked on them, figured out what they were after and what information they had already collected.

The two shinobi from Kumogakure had been tasked with finding the one- and twotails. That was as much as Konoha knew. The Yamanaka scanned their minds again and again. But that was the only information they could get. The two shinobi had found the twotails sealed in Tobirama. But the information on Hanako remained secret.

Akari was standing in the hallway of one of the tunnels, in front of a door guarded by two shinobi. Screams of desperation and pain echoed through the heavy metal. Part of Akari wished she wasn't one of the select people allowed to enter the tunnels.

"I need to talk to the Lord First," she told the two guards standing left and right of the door. "It's urgent."

One of them nodded and allowed her to knock. The screams stopped. Hashirama opened the door.

"It's the Raikage. He's here. In Konoha," Akari reported.

"The Raikage? Why?" Hashirama was visibly surprised, and immediately signaled the people in the room to continue their work without him.

"I don't know. Naturally he asked to only speak with you personally. Tobirama is with him right now." Akari followed the Hokage down the tunnel hallway. Light was scarce and damp down there, and the walls consisted of cold stone and concrete. "Sensei, this might as well be a trap. There is no reason for the Raikage to come here in person, and neither has he announced his visit."

"Have you looked at him?"

Akari nodded. "I could spot no Genjutsu or Transformation Jutsu. But that doesn't mean they are not plotting anything."

"We will see. If the Raikage has undertaken the long journey to Konoha, it would be more than rude of me to not welcome him in person."

They walked to the main gate of Konoha together. The Raikage and his entourage of Kumo shinobi were standing just outside the gates, waiting. Tobirama and some of the Konoha shinobi were standing opposite of them, carefully observing them and guarding the entrance to Konoha.

"You haven't invited them in yet?" Hashirama approached his brother with a smile, but then walked past him, directly towards the Raikage to shake hands.

The Raikage's entourage immediately tensed up, ready to draw their weapons should the Hokage pose any threat to their leader. And so did the shinobi standing behind Tobirama.

But the Raikage gladly shook the Hokage's hand to greet him.

"We did not expect your visit," Hashirama said, still a welcoming smile on his face. "You should have sent a messenger."

"My apologies. I have important matters to discuss and was a bit concerned you would not want to see me. In any case, I intended to speak with you personally."

Hashirama understood and invited the Raikage and his shinobi to the Hokage building. Mito greeted them there and offered tea and rice cakes to their guests. Being the wife of Hashirama and an Uzumaki made her the second most important shinobi in the village, especially during such occasions. She was Konoha's insurance.

There had been many told cases of Jinchuuriki committing suicide to release their beasts on the enemy. And those attacks were most deadly, especially for targets that were unprepared or even unable to seal a tailed beast away. They would keep rampaging, killing whatever and whoever stood in their way.

Akari had seen the destruction the twotails had left in Konoha, even though Mito had been there to seal it fairly quickly. Hundreds of people had been killed within minutes.

But now, at least the Jinchuuriki was a Kage. Akari had checked the people accompanying him with her Byakugan. None of them wore a seal on their bodies. Only the Raikage. And a Kage would not simply give his life away in a vague attempt to destroy a village.

They sat down in the conference room. The Raikage told most of his shinobi to wait outside, except for his advisor and two guards.

Hashirama did the same, only taking Tobirama, Akari and Hiruzen with him. Mito was present as well, but mostly just tended to their guests, making sure Konoha proved a good host.

"I came here to personally suggest that Konoha and Kumo should become allies. I'm sure you are aware the Tsuchikage and I signed a peace treaty. Kirigakure has already expressed they too would be willing to join forces with us, and Kumogakure would like you to join as well."

"Your proposal seems rather bizarre, considering that Iwagakure, your ally, keeps attacking our allies and threatens our borders. And Kirigakure is not really friendly towards us either," Hashirama noted in a friendly, yet firm manner.

"Ah, I'm afraid just because we have a peace treaty with Iwagakure does not mean that we agree with all their political and military decisions nor do we get a say in those. These sort if things you will have to settle with Iwagakure and the Tsuchikage. Our proposal concerns the relationship between Kumogakure and Konohagakure only."

Akari carefully observed everyone. Her eyes barely moved. It was bad manners to stare at people. Yet she didn't miss any little twitch of their muscles. None of them did.

"Then what about the spies you sent to Konoha?" Tobirama's voice was sharper than his brother's, but he had the same calmness.

The Raikage had an answer ready for this question as well. He didn't hesitate before saying, "Ah, yes. I was afraid they got caught when not all of them returned. My apologies. One can never be quite sure just how truthful the other Kage are. I'm sure you understand we simply wanted to get to know our potential allies better. And I also hope those shinobi of mine can be part of our negotiations. They are good men. It would be a shame if this was the end for them." The Raikages eyes fell on Hashirama. "But I'm most interested in your opinion on a treaty. Do you think there is room for negotiation here?"

Akari knew the answer without having to look at her former teacher. Of course there was. If there was one thing certain about Hashirama, it was that he always strived for peace and would give every person a chance to prove they were serious. But Akari couldn't help feeling bitter. Deep inside, she prayed for Tobirama to somehow propose a good enough argument that could end these negotiations.

Akari knew those feelings were wrong. She wanted peace. But she also blamed Kumogakure for Inori's death. Or she at least suspected them. And she wasn't sure if her love for Konoha and peace was enough to agree on a peace treaty with Inori's potential murderers, the people who caused this whole situation. Yet they couldn't prove Kumogakure's involvement. A necklace was not enough. Anyone could have bought and sold necklaces from Kumogakure. So she knew that this topic would not be brought up.

And just as Akari had anticipated, Hashirama gladly agreed to peace negotiations.

But the Raikage wasn't finished yet.

"Actually, there is something more I wanted to discuss. The true reason I came here in person. You and I, Hashirama. We are the last perfect Jinchuuriki. The last able to truly harvest the beast's power and use it as our own. A power that, you must know, takes years to acquire. And even then, most people are unable to achieve what you and I did. And what Madara had."

The whole room tensed up at the mention of Madara's name.

The Raikage allowed a moment of silence before continuing. "Kumogakure has decided that a power like this ought not to exist. Therefore, we will only sign a peace treaty under the condition that no Jinchuuriki shall seek the power of their tailed beast."

Hashirama smiled. "I'm surprised you came all this way to tell me this. Obviously you and I cannot unlearn what we have achieved over all these years. We are what we are."

"That's right. Which is why I have decided to have the eighttails extracted from me."

For the first time, Akari was unable to supress her emotions, and a glimpse of surprise showed on her face. But she wasn't the only one visibly surprised.

"In case I shall not survive the extracting of the eighttails, it has already been decided that my advisor here will become the Second Raikage. You will have to continue any potential negotiations with him."

The Raikage's advisor quietly nodded at them.

"I'm not quite sure I understand," Hashirama said. "Extracting the eighttails is close to a death sentence. This is suicide."

"As I said, shinobi like us should not exist. We are too powerful. The whole world fears us. I know for a fact that Iwagakure only threatens you because they feel safe since we are their allies. They also targeted you out of all the countries because your village is the most powerful. They are jealous, scared. I intend to restore the power balance by erasing perfect Jinchuuriki from this world. Even myself."

Hashirama straightened himself. "And you expect the same of me."

"I shall have the eighttails extracted in a week's time despite your decision. I don't expect anything from you, nor do I intend to threaten you. I'm simply telling you how it is. Kumogakure seeks peace. We seek balance. Whatever you decide, Kumogakure will not start a war. We might have treaties with Iwa and Kiri, but we will not interfere with their affairs. At least not unless we see ourselves forced to intervene."

"This is nonsense!"

Akari was glad that Tobirama finally spoke up. Because she agreed. Yet she could see in Hashirama's eyes that he thought differently.

"Even if we removed all perfect Jinchuuriki now, killing you and Hashirama, there will always eventually be more. If Kumogakure wants peace, then we are glad to negotiate. But our Hokage will not sacrifice his life for a peace treaty."

"You are right. There likely will be more. Which is why it will be a clause in our treaty that tailed beasts have to be sealed completely. Shall a village try to harbour a tailed beast's power regardless, they expose themselves to the judgement of the other villages. And besides, as I said earlier, fully acquiring a beast's power takes years, so we are looking at least at another decade of a world without perfect Jinchuuriki."

"And you will have the eighttails extracted from yourself regardless of what my answer might be today," Hashirama confirmed.

"I will. I must admit, we have done quite a bit of research on safely extracting tailed beasts, and I hope this will not be my end." The Raikage smiled, meeting everyone's eyes, even Akari's. "But if it is, then, as I said, you can feel free to contract the Second Raikage here. I will probably retire either way. Being a leader of a village for 20 years sure is exhausting, isn't it?"

* * *

Tobirama started persuading Hashirama to reject the Raikage's proposal as soon as their guests had left the Hokage building. It usually took a lot for the younger Senju brother to get truly worked up over something. But this last conversation with the Raikage had him pacing up and down the room. Because he, just like Akari, knew that Hashirama was the kind of person to consider such a proposal.

"They are playing us, Hashirama," Tobirama walked up to him trying to make eye contact with his brother. But Hashirama wouldn't look at him. "You know well enough they are involved in all these conflicts. You can't possibly consider giving in to their request. You are what's keeping them from invading Konoha. If you are gone, they won't hold back."

Akari felt like they had completely forgotten that her and Hiruzen were still in the room. They both kept quiet, knowing it wasn't their place to speak.

"You are assuming. We have no prove at all against Kumogakure. It is possible that Iwagakure is in fact the only problem here. They would have to stop their attacks once we are allied with Kumogakure as well."

"And even if it was only Iwa, how does that justify you sacrificing yourself? If Kumogakure wants peace, they can have it. You don't have to die for it."

"I might not." Hashirama smiled at his brother, patting his head.

Tobirama instantly slapped his hand away. Hashirama had the bad habit of treating close friends like little children in the worst moments.

"We will see," Hashirama continued. "If the Raikage truly spoke the truth, then he will have the eighttails extracted in a week. There is no reason why Kumogakure should do such a thing if the Raikage wasn't sincere. Without the eighttails, Kumogakure is hardly stronger than Iwagakure and Kirigakure. It's like he said, the tailed beasts do disturb the power balance."

"And they also made sure that no village ever dared attack Konoha or Kumogakure in the last twenty years. What's holding them back from infiltrating our village once you and the ninetails are gone?"

"Let's continue this conversation in a week." Hashirama nodded to Akari and Hiruzen, still a soft smile on his lips, and left.

Tobirama stormed after him.

Akari quietly looked at Hiruzen, who quietly looked back at her. They were so close to their teachers, so close to the top of Konoha, yet there was nothing they could do. In the end, Hashirama would make the final decision again.

* * *

A week later, Konoha's spies reported back that the Raikage had the eighttails extracted and that it had been resealed in a little boy. The Raikage did not survive the extraction, and his advisor was announced the Second Raikage the same day.

Many discussions and arguments followed in Konoha. But ultimately, Hashirama did what he thought was right.

* * *

Akari and Chiyome were standing in front of Inori's grave, together with Sakumo and Riku. It was a place they visited often. Chiyome put down flowers she had collected on the way. Sakumo too had flowers, but they were for his mother's grave.

"I can't believe Hashi-sensei agreed on the peace treaty with Kumogakure," Riku started ranting again. He strongly disagreed with the idea of forming an alliance with Kumogakure. He still blamed them for Inori's death.

"Let's not talk about this in front of Inori's grave," Akari quietly said. She did her best to avoid the topic. Because she knew more than Riku, and keeping secrets was exhausting. Most people didn't know about the Raikage's special clause. They didn't know Hashirama was planning on having the ninetails extracted. It was top-secret information and she wasn't allowed to speak about it to anyone. Not even Riku.

"Why not? Inori would want to hear this. You know how she loved gossip and all." Riku snitched a flower from Sakumo's little bouquet and placed it on Inori's grave. The little boy complained and ran away to pick a new one.

"You better make sure the graves don't have ears. We've caught a lot of spies lately."

Someone suddenly appeared from behind, someone they hadn't noticed yet. Hashirama stood between them and put his arms around them, pulling them both into an embrace at the same time. "She's right, Riku." He laughed at the fact that he'd managed to sneak up on them. "I see my three students still enjoy spending time together, even after all those years," he said with a sad smile on his lips.

"Sensei, what are you doing here?" Riku asked while doing his best to free himself from his teacher's grasp.

"I saw you guys here and wanted to join the meeting of Team Hashirama. This team is named after me after all." He laughed again and continued to goof around with Riku. Sakumo and Chiyome happily joined in as well.

Akari only watched. She had never understood how two grown men tickling each other was supposed to be appropriate or funny. Yet she suddenly found herself smiling at their fooling around for the first time. It reminded her of the old days.

Riku eventually had to leave. He had to get ready for another mission.

Akari watched him and Sakumo leave. Hashirama stayed next to her.

"You should have told him," Akari said, her voice was almost a whisper. She never talked about confidential things outside on a graveyard. Yet she couldn't hold back this time. "If he ever finds out, he will hate you for it." She tried her best not to sound judgemental.

"He wouldn't understand. And he would hate me regardless, you know that." Hashirama offered her his arm, signalling her he liked to go on a walk with her.

Akari didn't take it. Yet she did agree to walk next to him. Chiyome followed them, but was still busy picking more and more flowers.

Hashirama noticed the girl's habits and made a game out of it by letting the most beautiful flowers grow on the weirdest places. So Chiyome climbed trees and houses during their walk and grew more and more delighted as she found more and more rare flowers.

Hashirama had a big smile on his lips as he watched the little girl.

"Where are we going?" Akari eventually asked.

"I wanted to talk to you for a bit. Privately." They eventually sat down in a little park. Akari looked around, not really trusting the silence, but Hashirama assured her there was no one around.

"You know I consider you family, right?" he smiled at Akari.

Akari's gaze dropped, but she slowly nodded.

"I might not be the right person to say this… but family is important. Family and love. It's the force that drives us, that impacts our decisions. I have always done what I thought was best for my family." He stopped for a moment. "And so has Madara. But in the end, I guess our definitions of family and love differed too much."

Chiyome came running back to them and handed Hashirama the bouquet of flowers she'd gathered. He thanked her and placed one of the flowers in her hair, which brought another smile to her face.

"Why are you telling me this?" Akari too received some flowers from her daughter.

He leaned back and enjoyed the sunrays that touched his face. "I'm not sure. Maybe some final wisdom from your sensei. It's just… Tobi and I don't have a lot of family left. And my decisions in the past might not have helped. He's always handled loss relatively well. Better than me anyways. Still, I'm worried."

"The village is our family. So there will always be family left." Akari knew how weak her words were. She knew how much more Chiyome meant to her than the other children in the village. And she knew what Hashirama was trying to say. But she didn't want to hear it. "Please, sensei. Just rethink your decision. There has to be another way. If we –"

"I didn't come here to discuss this again," he interrupted her. "I made my decision. I've failed too many times lately. I feel like it's my duty to step back. And to do this properly, I need to rid myself of the ninetails. I'm not doing this because I feel forced to by Kumogakure. I'm doing this because I agree with the Raikage."

Akari lowered her head. Her daughter climbed into her lap and gave her a hug, sensing there was something bothering her mother.

"Cheer up a bit, will you?" He put a hand on her head, patted it like he'd always done.

"You came here to say goodbye," Akari quietly noted.

"Well, I did think you deserved a last talk. Just in case, you know, it actually does end up being the last one." He laughed about it, but didn't really get Akari to feel any better about this. Then he added, "I was also going to ask you to look after my little brother a bit, but then it just felt too weird. He's an adult, I guess he can take care of himself."

Akari looked down at her daughter. At least her scent and warmth always made Akari feel calm and collected. Seeing her daughter happy and healthy was the one thing that somehow reassured her that the world was going to be alright. So she softly wrapped an arm around Hashirama and rested her head on his shoulder. "Just survive this. Please," she whispered.

Hashirama quietly nodded.

* * *

The hope of Hashirama surviving the resealing was what everyone was clinging to. It was the reason his wife and brother did not outright sedate him to lock him away in safety. There was a lot that all of the five countries still had to learn about the tailed beasts. And if there was one person to survive having a tailed beast extracted, it surely had to be Hashirama Senju, the man whose body regenerated from deadly wounds like they were mere scratches, the only shinobi known who could breathe life into his Wood Style. Hashirama Senju was the man people would name invincible.

And when the ninetails was extracted from Hashirama and sealed into his wife Mito, Hashirama did survive.

He felt tired and weak, like he hadn't slept in over a week, but he was alive. Some people were celebrating already, others did not trust it was a success just yet.

And in the end, the latter proved right. Hashirama spent the day with his family, feeling relieved that the burden of the ninetails had been lifted from his shoulders, and at the same time feeling guilty having passed it onto his wife.

Hashirama went to bed peacefully that night. And never woke up again.

* * *

Akari and Chiyome quietly stood in front of Hashirama's grave. Chiyome had a vague idea why this new grave made her mother sad all over again. The Hokage was dead, and the Hokage had been her mother's teacher. Death was a bad thing. It meant that the people who died were gone forever.

"If I become strong, can I change the world?" Chiyome asked her mother.

"What are you talking about?" Akari softly smiled at her daughter and brushed a strain of hair out of her face.

"You told uncle Haruto that only the strong can change the world, right? Like the Hokage. So if I become Hokage one day, can I change the world?"

Akari lightly laughed. Chiyome couldn't quite understand why her mother had to think this was funny. Because Chiyome was dead serious.

"Once I'm Hokage, I will change the world and I will make it so that no one ever dies anymore!" the little girl loudly declared. "And then I will bring back Inori and the Hokage. And Sakumo's mama too. They can live again."

Akari thought about explaining to her daughter that death was inevitable, and that the dead could not be brought back. But she didn't. Children were allowed to have dreams.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Hi there!
> 
> I'm not really good at writing author's notes, but I kind of felt like writing one :)
> 
> First of all, thanks for sticking around so far, I really appreciate it!
> 
> Secondly, just in case anyone is wondering where Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Tsunade are (because of tags and all), yup, I have not forgotten about them, rest assured, they will be here eventually! I really didn't intend for Chiyome's early years to take up 4+ chapters. Guess we are in for a long one here.


	6. Year 5 - Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw man, I already thought the last chapter was too long, but still posted it as a whole since I liked the idea of structuring the chapters as years. But since in Year 5, there is apparently really a lot happening again and the chapter was over 10k once again, I decided to split them into two parts, since I'm not a fan of 10k+ words chapters. Also going to call them "summer" and "fall" instead of "part 1 and 2", simply cause that fits the "Years" better :)
> 
> So yeah, hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

Before the death of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, Konoha strengthened its bonds with Sunagakure and signed a peace treaty with Kumogakure. As a consequence, Iwagakure stopped their attacks on Konoha's allies and borders, knowing that back-up from Kumogakure was no longer guaranteed.

But that did not completely erase the tension between Konoha and Iwa. A peace treaty was being discussed between the Second Hokage and the Tsuchikage. But Iwa refused to give back the land they had conquered, refused to pay amends for the lives and villages they had destroyed. And while Konoha still wasn't in the best position, Tobirama Senju was no one to accept treaties that clearly put Konoha at a disadvantage.

So a few weeks after the failed negotiations with Iwagakure, there was an assassination attempt on the Hokage's life. Shortly after, Kirigakure openly declaring they would not accept a Kage who was a Jinchuuriki. With the deaths of the Raikage and First Hokage, Tobirama was the last Kage with a tailed beast sealed in him. It was enough for Kirigakure to justify their hostility against Konohagakure.

* * *

Chiyome looked up at the Hokage rock while carefully listening to her teacher explaining the history of Konohagakure. At the rocks, workers were still busy building the face of the Second Hokage.

"Why didn't an Uchiha become the Second Hokage?" one of her classmates, an Uchiha, asked.

The teacher smiled and answered, "Lord Tobirama was the First's brother and had been his advisor for many years. The First Hokage trusted him to be a good leader for our village."

"But my mom said an Uchiha deserved to become Hokage next." The little boy spoke with the settled conviction of a child who believed their parents to be always right.

Tsunade immediately stood up and confronted him. "Why would they _deserve_ to be Hokage? My grandfather founded Konoha. This is his village!"

"Our former leader founded Konoha too," the Uchiha boy yelled back at her. "You Senju want all for yourself. That's not fair!"

The rest of their classmates started to back up Tsunade, throwing around facts and beliefs they had heard from their parents too. In the end, the Uchiha boy jumped up to push Tsunade away from him. The girl didn't hesitate to punch him in the face.

Their teacher had to stop the little fight, scolding both sides. Their lesson was over for now, and the teacher gave them half an hour to reflect upon their actions, as well as having lunch, before going back to the Academy.

Chiyome took out her bento and observed the group of happily giggling classmates that had formed around Tsunade. Then her eyes fell on the Uchiha boy, who was leaning against a tree, all alone. It seemed he didn't bring anything to eat. She decided to walk over to him, despite the grim look on his face.

"We can share lunch if you want. Today, my mama made this bento for me; it's enough for both of us," she said, showing the box full of carefully arranged foods.

The Uchiha boy grabbed the bento and smashed it on the ground. "You are just a bastard. I'm not eating your shit." With those words, he pushed past her and left.

Chiyome looked down at her lunch, spilled all over the dirty ground. She bit her lips, wondering. Part of her told her picking up food from the floor was a no-no. But part of her also didn't want the food her mother had made for her to go to waste.

She picked up one of the rice balls. Black dirt stuck to the white rice. "Ugh, look at that! Chiyome is eating from the floor. What are you, a dog?" one of her classmates called over to her. Her friends giggled and made barking sounds.

Chiyome quietly picked up the rest of the food and threw it in a trash can. Her big eyes were sad. Her mother barely had time to prepare lunch for her. Most of the time, one of her aunts cooked for them. But her mother's food was always the best. The rice balls always had eyes and ears, and the vegetables were cut into little flowers or butterflies.

Her classmates suddenly got all excited and the teacher called everyone back, so Chiyome left her food and returned. Some kids had spotted the Second Hokage and Tsunade dragged him over to them.

Most of their classmates looked at Tsunade with big, impressed eyes as she proudly introduced the Hokage as her uncle to them.

"We just looked at grandfather's stone face," Tsunade told him. She stood next to him, as close as possible. "They are almost finished with yours too! And now we are going back to the Academy to work on our chakra control."

Chiyome kept standing next to her teacher, a bit further away from the Second Hokage and the group of little admirers around him. She didn't want to get involved in all that excitement. And neither did the Uchiha boy.

"Hey, can you show us some jutsu?" one of the children eventually asked.

There was a short frown on the Hokage's face, followed by some begging from Tsunade. He eventually gave in and formed a sphere of water in his hands. The children were impressed. A sphere of fire was next.

"Can you do a sphere of wind too?" one asked.

"Are you stupid? How do you think a sphere of air would look like?" another said.

"My uncle can use _all five elements_ ," Tsunade bragged, which earned her an impressed " _wooow"_ from her classmates.

The teacher eventually ended the little jutsu showcasing the children had dragged the Hokage into and told them they'd be returning to the Academy.

Chiyome was ready to continue after her teacher, when Tsunade stopped her. The girl pulled out a bag of sweet bread and offered it to Chiyome.

"I saw that the Uchiha idiot threw away your lunch. Here, you can have this."

Chiyome hesitated for a moment. Tsunade had never really talked to her before. They sat at complete opposite sides of the classroom, and they were at complete opposite sides of life. Tsunade was the princess of the respected Senju clan. She was loved by her classmates, admired. Everyone wanted to be like her or have her as a friend. While Chiyome was the bastard from the Hyuuga clan. No one wanted to have anything to do with her.

"Thank you," Chiyome eventually said and took the sweet bread.

Tsunade continued to call their classmate names, words Chiyome would never take into her mouth, before running off after her teacher. Chiyome wanted to follow, but then her eyes fell on the Hokage again. He was pressing his hand against his temples, eyes shut tight.

"Are you hurt?" Chiyome asked.

His eyes shot open like he was surprised she was still there. He shook his head, but the frown on his forehead stayed.

"You didn't make butterflies today," Chiyome noted. "I liked them. Mama taught me how to make water, but I can't do butterflies like you."

He stopped massaging his trembles and straightened himself. "You will have to work on shape transformation."

"Could you teach me?" Chiyome didn't know what had made her ask the Hokage if he could teach her a jutsu. "Lord Second," she added, remembering that her mother would scold her for the lack of honorifics. But her cheeks were already flushed red. The whole question was impolite. The Hokage had more important things to do in life.

He seemed equally surprised at her question as she was herself. Another frown formed on his forehead, which had Chiyome scared he would be angry with her. Still, he managed a weak smile. "Shape transformation requires very advanced chakra control. You should probably hurry and catch up to your classmates. I'm sure your teacher is doing a good job at teaching you all about it."

Chiyome dropped her gaze. She wasn't too sure about that. The Academy was boring. Boring and mean. Her mother always emphasised the importance of being respectful. But her classmates were anything but respectful towards each other. There was a constant battle between them to show who was better, stronger, more intelligent.

Still, Chiyome nodded and gave the Second Hokage her best bow before running after her teacher and classmates.

* * *

Akari was standing on top of Konoha's wall, her eyes overlooked the vast and dense forest in front of her. Her attire was much lighter than the dresses she usually wore, something she could fight well in. Her bow was leaning against the wall next to her.

Tobirama had stripped her off her title as advisor and assistant as fast as Hashirama had given it to her, and she was now on guard's duty. It was dull work.

"There, I saw something move! Really, this time there really was something," her partner called to her, all worked up again. He was her age but had only recently been promoted to the Chuunin rank.

Akari calmly activated her Byakugan for the fifth time that day. "It's a deer you saw."

"Are you sure? Maybe someone used a transformation jutsu."

"I'm sure," she said, deactivating it again. At least her shift was almost over.

There were people gathering in a little park back in the village, which caught Akari's attention. She looked down at them, but couldn't quite make out what they were doing. Then again, it didn't interest her enough to activate her Byakugan.

When the person relieving her finally came, she went to the Academy to pick Chiyome up.

Chiyome was old enough to walk home alone. After all, she was also old enough to be taught about killing. But Akari still made sure to never let her walk around unattended. Not because she didn't trust Chiyome, but because she didn't trust the world. Especially not with the recent assassination attempts on their Hokage.

She met Riku in front of the Academy. He didn't even look at her. It had been a matter of time until Riku found out the truth about Hashirama's sudden death. And since the person he was angry at was dead, he directed his anger at Akari, the person who'd kept it all a secret from him.

Chiyome and Sakumo walked out of the Academy together but split up as soon as they saw their parents standing at opposite sides of the street. Neither of them understood what was going on between their parents, but they'd found out that them being together only ended up with their parents arguing, so they'd learned to stay away from each other in their presence.

Today was one of the days Akari decided to test the waters again and nicely greeted her old teammate with a "good afternoon".

"You can't stay mad at me forever, you know? We are friends after all."

He laughed. "You say that, but all you ever to is keep secrets from me. That's not what friends do." He looked down at Chiyome and Sakumo, who were both quietly watching with sad eyes. He pulled out some money and asked them to go buy some sweets from the shop around the corner.

"What did you expect me to do? It was an order. From our _Hokage_. I can't just disregard that because we are all close," Akari continued once the kids were gone.

"What about Chiyome's father? Were you also told to keep that a secret from us by the Hokage?"

"This again?"

"Do you know how much you hurt Inori because of this? She always had your back. She never judged you. Neither did I, yet you couldn't even tell us you were seeing someone." He was yelling at her, which made Akari uncomfortable. She didn't like being emotional. Especially not in public.

"We've talked this through often enough. Can't you just let it go, please?"

"No, it's like you don't trust me. We both lost Inori. We both know it was Kumo. We were supposed to be in this together. And you? You just go and watch our teacher kill himself. _For nothing._ "

"For peace," Akari interrupted him.

"They lied, Akari!" Again, he yelled. Then his voice grew quieter. "Their Raikage was sick. He was going to die anyway. He was a dead man long before they extracted the eighttails."

"How do you know that?"

Riku laughed and started to walk down the road towards the children, kicking stones in his way. Akari followed him. "I was one of the spies investigating. Tobirama knows too. But I guess the treaty is signed anyway, so… You and I are just going to have to live with the knowledge that Kumogakure is giving us the run-around."

"So you shared this secret information with me out of spite? So I would feel guilty?"

He didn't answer.

"For what it's worth, I believe Hashirama would not have chosen differently, even if he knew the Raikage was dying. And you… you should remember we are shinobi. Learn to control your emotions."

"You know, maybe my first impression of you wasn't wrong after all."

They were ready to stomp off in different directions to end their argument, then realised their children were still standing next to each other in front of the sweet's shop, throwing chocolate balls into each other's mouths. So they quietly walked next to each other, grabbed their child, and then stormed off in different directions.

* * *

"Did you and uncle Riku have a fight?" Chiyome asked her mother halfway on their way home.

"We did," she shortly answered.

Chiyome could feel that this was apparently nothing she was supposed to ask about, so she changed the topic. "Mama, what does 'bastard' mean? My classmates keep calling me that. Why?" Chiyome had figured out quite quickly that the word 'bastard' was anything but a compliment. Yet no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong to deserve being called bad words.

Her mother immediately came to a stop. "Who called you that? Tell me their names."

Chiyome grew smaller. Her mother's reaction made her fear this word was even worse than she had expected. "Everyone, I guess," she quietly said. She could see the pain in her mother's eyes, and immediately regretted having asked the question.

Akari kneeled down to her. "You know, when a woman has a child but isn't married, then some people might call that child a bastard, because they expect the parents to get married before having children. But it's a very bad word, you shouldn't call anyone that. And they shouldn't call you that either." This was more the kind of answer Chiyome had expected from her mother right away.

"So why didn't you marry?"

Her mother smiled and gently stroked her hair. "Sometimes, life is complicated. There are a lot of rules you have to follow."

Chiyome frowned like she'd just been lied to. "But you always tell me you make the rules."

Her mother laughed, obviously amused. "I make the rules for you, little girl. Because I'm your mother. But there are more rules than mine, right?"

Chiyome put a thinking finger to her lips. "Like the teacher's rules at the Academy?"

"Exactly. Or like our clan's rules." Her mother took her hand to continue walking, but Chiyome didn't move. She still didn't understand.

"But why are there rules that you can't marry? Everyone else is married too."

Akari sighed. She put up both pointing finger in front of Chiyome. "See, this is the man I was supposed to marry. Because of rules." She held up her left finger. "But I didn't like him," she whispered in Chiyome's ear like it was a secret. She then pointed up her right finger. "I liked this man instead. But that was against the rules."

"Is this one my papa?" she pointed at Akari's right finger.

Her mother smiled and nodded.

"Can I draw him a face?" Chiyome asked and opened her backpack to get a pen.

"You want to? But it has to be a good-looking face!" Akari laughed and watched her daughter draw eyes on her fingertip with great care. "Now, that's some wild hair you are giving him."

"Done!" Chiyome gave her mother's hand, the finger in particular, a hug. "You can marry him now, I'll allow it."

Akari picked her daughter up. "That's very gracious of you." Chiyome giggled happily as her mother tickled her with the finger she'd drawn on.

They continued walking down the streets of Konoha, and eventually passed the group of people Akari had seen from up the wall. They were still standing in front of a little park, whispering to each other and trying to get a better view ahead.

"Look at all these people," Akari said, putting her daughter down on the ground again. "Shall we see what they are doing there?"

Chiyome wasn't really interested, but her mother pulled her along regardless.

They made their way to the front. There were shinobi signalling people to back off, but none of them said anything when Akari walked past them with her daughter. Akari stopped next to Hiruzen.

A limb body hung from a tree.

"Suicide?" Akari asked. She didn't bother to guard her daughter from the view. This was reality.

Hiruzen nodded. Danzo was cutting the rope to get the body down. He was on duty, wearing an Anbu mask. Akari still had no issues recognising him. The masks barely hid their identity.

Akari recognised the dead woman too, a kunoichi only a few years younger than herself. Medics approached and took her body away on a stretcher. Danzo left with them.

"A shame. She was a nice person," Hiruzen said, more to himself than to Akari. "Just not a person cut out to be a shinobi." He eventually turned to her. "How is the situation in the outskirts?"

"Quiet." After the assassination attempt on their Hokage, security tightened in Konoha. Guards were doubled on the wall and around the village.

It hadn't surprised Akari that Tobirama chose Hiruzen as his new advisor and Danzo as the captain of the Anbu, Konoha's newly founded special unit. To many, their students were like children. They raised them, taught them basics as well as special abilities. Sometimes, they even taught them the secrets of their clan. Akari knew because she'd experienced it herself with Hashirama.

"Did that woman die?" Chiyome eventually asked. When her mother nodded, she asked, "Why?"

Akari thought about her answer for a moment. Why did that kunoichi die exactly? Why did anyone ever die? "Sometimes, the world can be very harsh. And life is hard," she eventually said. "Too hard for some people." She put a hand on her daughter's head.

"What do you think happens after death?" Hiruzen asked. The girl's death seemed to affect him more than Akari would have anticipated. Or maybe there was something else on his mind.

"You are dead." Akari had never been a religious or spiritual person. Yet she saw that the topic clearly bothered him, so she added, "There is no way of knowing unless you die. So there really is no reason to worry one's brain over it while still alive."

"No way of knowing, huh. Are you sure about that?"

He now sparked Akari's interest. She could feel he knew something she did not. But Hiruzen quickly turned away, realising he might have said too much. The crowd slowly dissolved around them as there was nothing more to see.

"Can I walk you two home?"

Hiruzen's question surprised Akari, but she still agreed. They quietly walked next to each other down the roads of Konoha.

"I'm a bit worried about Tobirama-sensei," he eventually said.

"Because of the assassination attempt? The Lord Second won't be killed that easily. He's a Senju after all."

Hiruzen shook his head. "That's not what I meant." His eyes dropped. "Nevermind."

Akari carefully observed him as they continued walking over a little bridge. A girl was selling flowers, and Chiyome asked her mother to buy some. She spent the rest of the way along the little forest path trying to braid them into her hair.

Hiruzen didn't say another word until they reached the gate that marked the entrance to the Hyuuga compound. "I should head back to the Hokage office now," he said, but didn't move.

Akari told her daughter to go ahead and show her grandfather or uncle the beautiful flowers in her hair.

It didn't take long until Hiruzen started talking again once the girl was gone. "I know that Hashirama wanted you to be Tobirama's advisor, not me."

"That hardly matters anymore, does it?" Akari threw a reassuring smile in his direction.

"I just, I think maybe Tobirama-sensei made the wrong decision choosing me. Maybe you would be more fit."

Akari frowned. Being this insecure did not fit Hiruzen. He was quieter than most of their former classmates. But he was never insecure. "You've been his student for so many years. You know him better than anyone."

"And maybe that's the problem. He's my teacher. I've looked up to him all these years. His word was law." He looked around the Hyuuga compound. The main building was across a big plaza with a little temple in the middle. The plaza was all empty. "An advisor should not hold back speaking up," he continued. "Especially not when they disagree with their Hokage's actions."

"What are you talking about?"

"Could you just go and talk to him? Please, just once. Just because I might not agree with his decisions doesn't mean they are wrong. But I'm scared that… it's the twotails influencing him. He's changed, Akari." His eyes wandered around. "I already asked Danzo about this, but it seems he agrees with our Hokage. I just want another opinion. As an advisor, I need to make sure our Hokage is not doing anything fundamentally wrong."

"Hiruzen." She grabbed his hand to get his attention, her eyes locked onto his. "What _is_ he doing?"

He now calmly leaned closer into her. His breath reached her ear. "He's working on a new jutsu. One to bring back the dead."

* * *

Akari was sitting in their gardens, observing birds bathing in the fountain. Days had passed since her conversation with Hiruzen. She had not gone to see the Second Hokage, but the words still circled around her head.

The sun shyly shone through the bamboo leaves above her head. It was quiet around her, serene. The birds chirped in chime before ending their bath and flying off towards the sky. Akari watched after them, and decided her break ought to be over too.

Inside, her way crossed her father's, who came rushing down the corridor, followed by her brother and his two guards. They were on their way to the main entrance.

"Is everything alright?" she inquired. She looked at her father, then at her brother following him.

"I need to hurry to Iroha. His son was supposed to receive the caged-bird seal today. But I just received a message from the Hokage asking me to speak to him. It seemed rather urgent." He checked his watch. "I'm afraid I'm already running late."

He wanted to push past her, but Akari stopped him. "I could go to the Hokage for you."

Her father looked at her in surprise, and her brother looked at her even more surprised. "I'm not sure if the Lord Second wouldn't feel offended if I didn't answer his call in person."

"I'd like to believe that the Lord Second wouldn't feel offended, considering I am your daughter and was trained by his brother." Akari spoke with the confidence of a Hyuuga who had never received the caged-bird seal. "I could also leave right away. You know the Lord Second values punctuality." She could tell that her father was inspecting her, her hair, her dress. The seal on her forehead.

He nodded. "Thank you. You are relieving me of a lot of stress. Haruto, bring your sister the note I received from the Hokage just now. I left it in my office. She ought to take it with her." He walked past them. "Come join me afterwards at Iroha's, Haruto."

Haruto looked after their father, somewhat lost. As soon as he'd left through the door with his two guards, Haruto turned to his sister. "What are you doing? If anything, _I_ ought to go to the Hokage in father's stead."

"Did you offer to go?"

"No, but…" He frowned. "Stop ingratiating yourself."

Akari returned her brother's frown with her own. "I offered my help. You don't get to be mad at me for that." She walked past him and left him standing.

* * *

Several guards were present at the Hokage building, standing next to doors and windows. No one kept Akari from entering though. Tobirama was in his office. She knocked, and entered.

An Anbu stood in the corner of the office. Akari couldn't help but wonder how different the place felt. Hashirama's office used to be a warm place. No guards, if anything, it was children running around.

"Anything I can help you with?" Tobirama asked but didn't stand up to properly greet her.

Akari showed him the note. "My father sent me in his stead."

"I asked for your father. I don't have anything to discuss with you."

Akari already expected such a response from him. She confidently said, "I'm my father's representative. So whatever you were meant to discuss with him, you ought to discuss with me."

He leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms. He considered for just another moment, before signalling the Anbu to leave.

As soon as they were alone, he continued. "Kirigakure is asking for your father's head, with intact eyes, obviously."

Akari took a deep breath, but Tobirama wasn't even finished yet.

"They also offered to negotiate a peace treaty afterwards. But one of their conditions for peace is that you and Haruto both marry into one of their clans."

" _What?"_ Akari snapped. "How could they possibly assume the right for such claims?" On her way to the Hokage building, she'd mainly thought about Hiruzen's words, and how to approach the topic with Tobirama. She hadn't expected the reason for his note to be this serious.

Tobirama only shrugged, somewhat apathetic.

For a moment, fear grew in Akari that he had accepted their conditions.

"They outright threatened to declare war on Konoha if we don't accept. I assume they believe our current position doesn't allow us to decline."

Akari swallowed. She wanted him to say he rejected their conditions.

Tobirama could clearly see the distress in her violet eyes. He turned away from her, sighed. "Anyways, you should let your father know. He should come see me personally, the sooner the better, so we can discuss this in more detail. You should also deploy more guards at your compound. We can't be sure what Kirigakure will do next. They sure hold a grudge against your family." He stood up, walked towards the door. "I will ask Danzo to accompany you home."

"Wait!" Akari threw herself between him and the door. This conversation was nowhere from being over for her yet. "So you… didn't accept their conditions?"

Tobirama's face immediately darkened, and a huge frown formed on his forehead. "Obviously not. What did you expect me to do, sell out the people I ought to protect?"

An immense weight was lifted off Akari's mind. But the feeling of relief didn't last long. This meant that yet another conflict awaited Konoha. And she was part of the reason. "So will you renegotiate a peace treaty with Kiri?"

"I might. Their proposal sounded rather final though." He looked down at her. She was still blocking his way to the door. "See, this is why I wanted to discuss this with your father. I can't make decisions involving your clan this much without his counsel. So go home and tell him to come see me once he can make time." He waited for her to step aside, but she didn't.

"Are you… doing alright?"

"I am." He turned away from her, seeing how she didn't attempt to budge any time soon.

"A lot has happened lately. If you need to talk then…"

"I don't need to talk. Not with you anyways."

Akari leaned against the door behind her. Her eyes stayed on Tobirama's back. "One of the conditions for our peace treaty with Kumogakure was that you seal the twotails away. Completely. Have you?" Akari knew, because she was present when the treaty got signed by both Hashirama and Tobirama. And she knew that Tobirama was no liar. At least not in these situations.

He didn't give her an answer. Simply leaned against his desk and crossed his arms again. "I want you to leave."

"We don't need the twotails," she said instead. "Don't threaten our peace treaty with Kumogakure because of this. We are still a strong village. We have the Senju, the Uchiha, the Uzumaki as our allies. Us, the Hyuuga. And so many more." She didn't move away from the door. Part of her feared he might flee if she did.

Tobirama snorted. "My clan's bloodline is almost gone. The Uchiha resent me, so does Mito. And the Hyuuga? Seem to only bring more trouble than blessings."

Her muscles twitched at his last comment, which she felt was more directed at her personally than her clan. She chose to ignore it, knowing it would drive the conversation into the wrong direction. "They will still fight for you. For Konoha. You don't need to carry this all on your shoulders alone."

"Akari." He looked at her with calm, but cold eyes. "Tell me, why do you think did I refrain from making you my advisor? I don't need you to give a speech. I'm not interested."

"I'm just worried. About Konoha."

He laughed. "Of course, you always are. Tell me, do you not trust me to lead Konoha? Are you worried I might be unfit? That I don't have the best for Konoha in mind? Is that why you are here?"

His words evoked a feeling of guilt in her. She knew he was right. And Hiruzen had been wrong to ask her for advice. She'd known all along, but still, she'd ended up in his office.

"The two shinobi that attempted the assassination on you… what happened to them?"

"You already know the answer, don't you? They are dead, like they ought to be."

"Because you experimented on them? To bring back the dead?"

He walked up to her again, grabbed her wrist, pressed her against the wall behind her. "You have no right to come here and question me. Tell Hiruzen if he has issues with my decision, he ought to confront me personally."

Akari winced. "You are hurting me." He didn't loosen his grip on her, so she added a sharp, " _Let go_."

"And if I don't?"

His red eyes were right in front of her. She could see the anger in them. Anger and hate.

"Maybe you should use your smart brain to figure out why Hiruzen felt the need to request I talk to you." She snapped her hand free and pushed past him to get away.

Tobirama let her and opened the door as soon as she was out of the way. His voice was sharp when he said, "You leave now. Or I will kick you out myself. And I won't care if your pretty face is getting bruised in the process.

She walked past him. With an equally sharp voice she said, "I hope you know what you are doing. The one thing that is certain and final is death. That's how it's always been and how it should be."

He slammed the door shut behind her. Akari stood there for a moment, wondering what she'd done. Why she'd done it. Her wrist still ached. Had he changed? Probably. Was it because of the twotails? She didn't know. After all, the world around them had changed as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I'd start adding author notes from now on to the end of the chapters, just to talk a bit about some of the changes I made. Feel free to skip if you aren't interested.
> 
> For this AU; I wanted Jinchuurikis to be a bigger part of the overall story and world. Hashirama and Madara always seemed to be unproportionally stronger in canon than anyone else and Madara even used the ninetails once in battle. I like the idea that they were those legendary shinobi because they were perfect Jinchuuriki. It makes sense that Jinchuuriki would be the strongest shinobi of their times if they knew how to harvest that power. In the Naruto canon, there's barely anything known about the Jinchuuriki of the past, but I feel like they should and would have been involved in the founding of villages and the power battles. They've been around the world for hundreds of years, and the biggest clans (e.g. Uchiha and Senju) would have made sure to get one for themselves even before the villages were founded. Madara in this AU is actually the result of the Uchiha clan "experimenting" with putting more than one tailed beast into a human body, and the first shinobi who survived that, which is why he had both the one- and twotails.
> 
> I also never quite liked the idea of Hashirama collecting all tailed beasts and gifting them to others (apart from this basically being impossible in my AU, since tailed beasts didn't just run around freely but would belong to the top clans already). I still wanted to keep the idea from canon that he is "gifting" tailed beasts, which is how his daughter ended up in Suna.


	7. Year 5 - Fall

Akari stood on top of Konoha's walls once again. A chilly autumn wind blew past her. Once an hour, she would activate her Byakugan to scan the forest in front of her. Her eyes showed her almost only darkness. But darkness was good. Darkness meant no chakra to spot.

She sat down, closed her eyes, and listened to the night. Most of Konoha was asleep. Like most nights, it was calm. Silent.

Until suddenly, Akari could feel a wisp of chakra nearby. She opened her eyes to search the area once again with her Byakugan. But the forest in front of her was still silent.

Akari turned around, looked all the way to the other side of the wall, across Konoha's roofs. And there they were. Unknown shinobi. They were already jumping down the walls into Konoha. Akari didn't know who they were. All she could see was their chakra glowing in all shades of colour. But that was all she had to see.

She grabbed her bow and told her partner she would go and inspect. He was confused, cluelessly looked down at Konoha.

"I saw someone. Light the fires and sound the alarm if you detect fighting. Or if I'm not back soon."

He wanted to stop her from leaving him, but Akari was already on her way down into the village. She couldn't lose sight of the intruders.

Akari was sprinting to the other end of the village, when suddenly, her eyes spotted something else. Someone. A shiver ran down her spine as she looked at a figure with extraordinary dense chakra. It cloaked them and was so dark Akari had an actually hard time seeing it in the darkness of the night. But she could feel it. She knew the feeling. It was a tailed beast. A Jinchuuriki. They were still outside of the wall, far away, but moved closer and closer towards Konoha and its people.

She immediately came to a halt. This information had to reach Tobirama as fast as possible. Him and Mito were the only ones left in Konoha able to effectively fight a tailed beast. But if she went to the Hokage building now, she would lose track of the Jinchuuriki. They would reach Konoha. And who knew who their target was. The best she could to was to slow them down, stop them before they even reached the wall, and buy time for Tobirama to arrive.

Akari took out an arrow and stuck a note to it, telling the recipient of the Jinchuuriki's current location. She climbed one of the higher roofs, her eyes set on the Hokage building. The arrow hissed across Konoha. Akari's eyes followed its way. It shattered the glass window of the Hokage office and got stuck in the desk.

Shortly after, Akari was on top of the wall again, the part closest to the Jinchuuriki, yelling at the guards there to light the fires. They immediately followed her orders, despite having no idea why.

One fire after the other was lit, forming a circle of light all around Konoha. The sound of an alarm bell echoed through the streets, and light after light was lit inside the buildings.

A group of shinobi formed around Akari quickly, mostly other guards that came to check on the source of the alarm. Some of them she sent to look for the intruders, others were ready to defend their village against the Jinchuuriki with her.

Akari was about to step over the wall's edge, jump down, face the Jinchuuriki until backup arrived.

There was a small explosion over at the Hyuuga compound. A fireball flew through the air. One of the houses caught fire.

Akari froze. She stared into the direction of the Hyuuga compound, her home, the place she had left her daughter at. Her feet instinctively turned back towards Konoha, towards Chiyome.

But Akari had learned better than to let emotions control her actions. So she jumped down the wall and ran towards the Jinchuuriki.

* * *

  
Chiyome was sleeping in her mother's bed when screams woke her. She opened her eyes, but everything was dark around her.

She rubbed her cheeks while snuggling into the pillow again. It smelled of her mother. She had her own room, her own bed, but always sneaked to her mother's at night. It was like a game, trying not to get caught by anyone from her clan who'd sent her back. And most of the times, she won.

A loud bang kept Chiyome from going back to sleep. She pulled the blanket up higher while listening. She lay as still as she could, scared something would come and get her as soon as she moved even one bit.

The door to the room opened. Chiyome couldn't make out the shadow's face, but she knew it wasn't her mother. It wasn't anyone she knew. She held her breath as the stranger walked over to her bed.

"Are you Chiyome?" she asked. "Come with me. I'm taking you to your mother."

Chiyome couldn't recognise the voice. "Mama is at work."

The woman was holding a big needle in her hand. Chiyome moved further away from her, until her back hit the wall. The stranger told her not to be scared, but Chiyome could feel that this woman was not supposed to be there. She was an intruder.

"Chiyome!" the door crashed open again and someone turned on the lights.

"Grandfather!" Chiyome wanted to run to him, but the women stood between them.

Her grandfather's two guards immediately engaged in a fight with the stranger, while he made his way to his granddaughter.

Chiyome still didn't understand what was going on. She heard the clinging of metal around her, groans of pain. She didn't want to look. She buried her face in her grandfather's shoulder as soon as he picked her up.

Only when her grandfather suddenly groaned in pain as well did she open her eyes again. A weird thread came out of his shoulder. It was connected to the needle the woman was holding. Her grandfather tried cutting it with his hand and chakra, but it was no use.

The woman laughed. "Obviously I would use wire that can't just get cut that easily. Otherwise sewing people together would be so insufficient." She pulled the wire connected to her needle and her grandfather was pulled towards his two guards.

He let go of Chiyome, formed signs, and a fire ball flew against the wall of Akari's room, burning a big hole into it.

"Run, Chiyome!" he shouted at her.

Chiyome hesitated.

"You are not running away, sweety," the woman said, throwing her needle at her.

Her grandfather grabbed the wire and pulled, which threw the needle off-course. It missed Chiyome, who then finally hopped through the hole and vanished into the dark gardens outside.

* * *

Akari quietly sat on top of a tree, observing the fight between the Konoha and the Kiri shinobi that accompanied the Jinchuuriki. She shot an arrow before changing her position. The glowing chakra systems of her opponents marked her targets.

This tactic worked for a while, allowing her free firing from the darkness. Most of the Kiri shinobi never knew what hit them. She was the shadow that provided backup to her own shinobi, backup they desperately needed.

Someone moved behind her just as Akari was drawing her bow again. She immediately abandoned her weapon, changing to close combat. The sword the shinobi was carrying was the Hiramekarei, the sword that could change its shape. It was glowing in the darkness from all the chakra that engulfed it. He was one of Kirigakure's Swordsmen.

The Swordsman used the Hiramekarei as two katana, dual-wielding them. It made it impossible for Akari to get close enough to his chakra points without risking a serious injury. She kept him at a distance by using fire jutsu, intentionally setting trees on fire all around her.

He seemed to read her intentions, and quickly extinguished the flames again with water jutsu. For just a moment, she could clearly see his eyes despite the darkness. His pupils were no more than a slit, like those of a snake.

Akari did her best to draw the fight closer to her fellow shinobi who were still fighting the Jinchuuriki. There was barely any time for her to check on them, but whenever she did, she could see them get slaughtered. They stood no chance against a Jinchuukiri and the remaining Kiri shinobi, some of which were Swordsmen themselves. On the other side, the Konoha shinobi were no more than mere Chuunin who'd been on guard duty.

When Akari finally arrived at their site, still followed by Hiramekarei's wielder, they were all dead.

The Jinchuuriki grinned at her. It was a young woman with sharp teeth. She was kneeling over one of the dead bodies and licked off the blood on a kunai. "How lucky that you came to us on your own," she said to Akari.

"What do you want in Konoha?" Akari did her best to ignore her dead comrades lying around her and focused on her enemies instead. There was one Jinchuuriki. Three Swordsmen. Two other Kiri shinobi.

The three Swordsmen circled her.

"You, for one," the Jinchuuriki said.

"So Kirigakure is sending a Jinchuuriki to come and get me? I'm feeling honoured."

One of the Swordsmen tried to grab her, but Akari quickly dodged and countered with the Gentle Fist. She couldn't reach his chakra points, but still managed to repel the attack.

Yet it was obvious there weren't many options for her in this situation. In fact, she could only think of one. Stalling. Talking. Whatever it took, she had to prevent them from moving on.

"You look quite charming," the Jinchuuriki said. "My brother will like you. He's to be your husband, you know? The Mizukage promised our clan the Byakugan. Don't you think our two bloodlines will work well together?"

"Enough talk." Hiramekarei's wielder stepped up to them. He signalled at one of the Swordsmen. "He will take her to Kirigakure. We continue the mission."

Akari didn't want the conversation to end just yet, so she asked, "What clan do you belong to? It has to be a noble one if Kirigakure entrusted a tailed beast to you. I'm afraid you and I never got to meet before."

All of a sudden, the Jinchuuriki was right next to her, much faster than Akari would have anticipated. "You might get to see," she said with a grin, before more dark chakra flowed from her body and engulfed Akari's feet and legs. She could feel it drain her own chakra.

One of Hiramekarei's blades sliced down between them and cut off the flow of dark chakra. "Stop," the Swordsman said. He had a calm and collected attitude. "The Mizukage wants her alive."

"Get lost, Yasha," the Jinchuuriki immediately hissed at him. "She's tasty; I want more of her chakra."

"Go feed that beast with the people in the village. She's your brother's bride, and not food."

A cold shiver ran down Akari's spine. A big part of her own chakra had disappeared in seconds. Another shiver soon followed as she kept observing the scene in front of her.

One of the Kiri shinobi stepped up. "Lord Yasha is right. The Mizukage gave us clear instructions. You are not supposed to use the threetail's chakra unless necessary."

Without flinching, the Jinchuuriki drew her own sword and cut the shinobi's head off. The other Kiri shinobi fearfully took some more steps away from her.

Akari swallowed, but she could see an opportunity in this dire situation. The eyes of the Swordsmen weren't on her anymore, they were on the Jinchuuriki, and the tension between them was rising. Their hands were on their swords' hilts, ready to draw them.

Akari's muscles all wanted her to run, but instead, she put on a smile and said, "It seems you can't control your tailed beast well. Did Kiri bring you here to sacrifice you and have the threetails destroy Konoha? Clans like to do that with failed vessels. I'm sure there is a sealing master with you, isn't there? After all, the threetails will have to be resealed afterwards." Akari looked at the Swordsmen, at Hiramekarei's wielder in particular.

Her words seemed to hit deep, at least deep enough for the Jinchuuriki to charge at her. Akari braced herself for a fight, but just like she'd hoped, one of the Swordsmen stepped between them and defended her.

Akari dropped a smoke bomb from her pockets and summoned water clones. She had them function as distraction for her to retreat.

Her Byakugan told her that her tactic was only partially working. A wave of snakes suddenly filled the forest floor. They were after her, sensed her even through the thick smoke paired with the night's darkness.

Akari spit fire at them and retreated up a tree. For just a moment, she thought she was safe, until she noticed someone behind her. Another snake crawled out of the sleeve of Hiramekarei's wielder and wrapped itself around Akari's feet and torso. Its head was on the same height as Akari's, its eyes locked onto hers.

Akari's body froze. No muscle obeyed her orders to move anymore.

A similar fate had befallen the Jinchuuriki. A white snake was wrapped around her. Sealing formula was written all over the snake's body, Akari could see the chakra infused in it. The Jinchuuriki was throwing insults at Yasha, Hiramekarei's wielder.

"Calm down, would you?" he calmly called over to her, then turned to Akari again, still standing on the tree's branch.

"Lord Yasha. The Tsuchinoko clan, if I am not mistaken?" She attempted to keep the conversation going again, but she knew this one would be more complicated. This one wasn't a hothead.

Akari didn't know Yasha personally, but she'd heard of him. And she knew the Tsuchinoko clan and their trademark: slit pupils. They were the Land of Waters sealing experts.

"Lady Akari." He nodded at her. "It is a shame your clan decided to abandon the Land of Water."

"It is a shame the Mizukage cannot let go of our eyes. Kirigakure has enough strong bloodlines. Maybe you should advise him to move on in life."

He smiled at her. "Maybe I should. Or I could just deliver him what he desires. I would much prefer it if you surrendered yourself to us."

"Why? So you can continue on, destroy Konoha and murder my father? I'd rather kill myself."

A shuriken hurtled through the air. It beheaded the snake with a clean cut. Akari could move again and she quickly jumped away from the tree and the Swordsman.

Riku appeared next to her, casually spinning another shuriken on his finger.

Akari couldn't hold back a big sigh of relief. Riku and her still had their difficulties. Still, she smiled at him. "Thank you."

To her surprise, Riku turned towards her, a smile on his face as well. "Saving your ass is always a pleasure." His voice was full of teasing, but Akari didn't mind. She was glad he was there. So glad she even ignored his choice of words.

Hiruzen too appeared at her other side. Three Anbu spurted past him and engaged in a fight with the shinobi from Kirigakure.

"Where is Tobirama?" Akari asked.

"He got delayed," Hiruzen explained. "He'll be here soon."

Akari nodded. With these two and the Anbu, she felt confident that they would be able to stall until Tobirama arrived. "Be careful of that woman. Their Jinchuuriki seems highly unstable. Don't let her enter the village."

Hiruzen joined the fight by throwing a bunch of kunai that he directed into all sorts of directions. Despite the scarce light in the forest, none of their enemies got hit. Some of them they deflected, others outright missed and got stuck in a tree.

"You'll have to be better than that." The Jinchuuriki laughed and used a jutsu. It summoned a dragon made of water that hurtled through the air and attacked Akari.

Akari and Hiruzen destroyed it by countering with a fire jutsu. Every single drop of water simply evaporated.

The fight continued like that. While the three Anbu fought the Swordsmen, Akari, Hiruzen and Riku distracted the Jinchuuriki. Together they managed to protect each other from her attacks. But Akari knew them going toe to toe with a Jinchuuriki was only possible because she barely used the beast's chakra. And the more attacks the woman missed, and the more the three Konoha shinobi attacked her, the stronger the dark chakra around her became. And eventually, the Jinchuuriki gave in to it again.

She summoned another water dragon. This time, neither Akari's nor Hiruzen's fire jutsu could stop it.

"Dodge!" was all Hiruzen managed to call out as the water dragon crashed into the ground between them with such a force that it hit like an explosion.

The water dragon soon restored itself and went for another attack, clearing whatever trees stood in its way.

Akari and the others had no option but to repeatedly dodge. Meanwhile, Hiramekarei's wielder took out the Anbu fighting him, and quickly went for the next. It seemed the Anbu were on the backfoot, now losing in numbers. But Akari and the others had their own problems to worry about. The water dragon raged at them.

In the blink of an eye, Tobirama appeared behind the enemies, right next to one of the kunai Hiruzen had thrown there earlier. His eyes scanned the enemies, his allies, the surroundings. And with just another blink, he was gone again.

Tobirama reappeared not soon after, this time next to Hiruzen. He formed signs, and when the water dragon attacked, his breath froze it solid. The dragon was turned into an ice statue.

"Not fair," the Jinchuuriki complained. "Beautiful, but not fair."

Tobirama was already gone again.

"Go and get rid of these kunai," one of the Swordsmen told the others. But the two Anbu hindered them.

When Tobirama appeared for the third time, it was right behind the Jinchuuriki. This time, Mito appeared with him. The hair she usually wore neatly tied up was loose, glowing. It grew longer and wrapped itself around the Jinchuuriki's arms and legs.

"Take down the Uzumaki!" a Swordsman called and all three immediately rushed at Mito, who had lost most of her mobility with her hair attached to a chakra monster.

Akari, Hiruzen and Riku each blocked one of their attacks.

The Jinchuuriki was furiously screaming at them. Slowly, one tail after the other formed as more chakra poured out of her in hope of freeing herself. Mito's hair wrapped around the tails too, and whatever chakra it touched dispersed.

Tobirama quietly watched as the threetail's chakra disappeared. It left dark spots on the woman's face and arms, burn marks. His shinobi now outnumbered the Swordsmen.

The fight seemed won already.

The Swordsmen all retreated to a safer distance and formed signs. They used water jutsu, all simultaneously. Small waves of water crashed onto the Jinchuuriki from three different directions. Again, Akari and Hiruzen used fire jutsu, while Tobirama protected Mito. Riku used the opportunity to engage in close combat with one of the Swordsman, preventing him from creating any more water.

The jutsu had barely been strong, still water flooded the forest floor before trickling into the soil. It was enough for the Jinchuuriki's body to completely dissolve and vanish in the liquid.

Mito's hair was wet. The woman was gone.

A little puddle of water remained, moved in the darkness of the forest, away from the fight, and then, the Jinchuuriki reappeared out of it. "Catch me!" She stuck her tongue out and ran off towards Konoha. The Swordsmen immediately followed.

"After them!" Tobirama called. Everyone took up pursuit, everyone except for Akari.

She bit her lip. "I would like to check on my clan. May I?" she eventually asked. The question left her feeling guilty. Konoha was being attacked. She was supposed to pursue the attackers, help the citizens evacuate. But on her mind was only the safety of her own daughter.

Tobirama nodded, then he too was gone.

* * *

The Hyuuga gardens were dark, and despite the fighting that was going on all around the village, they were weirdly tranquil. Chiyome ran further into the darkness until she found some bushes that seemed like a good enough hiding spot to her.

The little girl was as quiet and still as she could be. She wanted to know what was going on. She wanted to know if her grandfather was alright. So she tried what her mother had often told her about, sending chakra to her eyes.

A sharp pain appeared in her eyes that spread through her whole head. She immediately stopped what she was doing, but for a moment, she'd seen the world differently. She'd been able to see right through her own hands.

Chiyome tried again once the pain was gone. It hurt, but this time not as much. She was able to focus on the rooms inside their house, and the walls simply disappeared. She searched for her grandfather.

The shock she felt at the sight of her grandfather's motionless body deactivated her Byakugan again. It was nothing she wanted to see.

Tears stared to fill her eyes. She wanted her mother.

A sudden sound stopped Chiyome from crying. Her whole body froze as she realised someone was close-by. She activated her Byakugan again. It was the enemy shinobi. She was in the garden now, looking around.

Chiyome held her breath. She didn't want this woman to find her. She wanted her mother to come and get her. She looked around for her.

The little girl spotted her uncle instead. He was inside, not far away from her. But he was on his way in the opposite direction, away from the gardens. Chiyome looked at the stranger again. She was still searching the gardens.

"Uncle!" Chiyome called out as loud as possible, spurting into his direction.

The Kiri shinobi immediately went for her.

Fear overtook the little girl before she could reach the entrance to the house, and her legs stopped working. She stared at the needle in the woman's hand, the needle that she was sure was about to sew her up like a doll.

The woman had almost reached her, when her uncle appeared out of nowhere between the two.

Chiyome stood there. Watched. She didn't know whether to run or not. Her uncle was now fighting the intruder.

The fight continued for a while. Chiyome had a hard time making out what all their movements meant or who was going to win. It was all too fast for her, too much happened at once.

Eventually, her uncle managed to disarm and get hold of the woman. They wrestled on the ground. Haruto caught her hands, pressed them far away from each other to keep her from doing any more signs.

"Chiyome…" Haruto hesitated for a second. He saw the kunai lying not far away from him. It was in his reach, but he couldn't possibly let go of the woman. She was still struggling to free herself, and would attack the first instant he gave her an opening. But he couldn't ask his little niece to kill her.

Chiyome followed his eyes, looked at the weapon. The Academy had taught her what to do with a kunai. You either threw them at a target, or cut stuff, or stabbed things. The one's they used were made of wood so no one would get hurt. But they weren't hard to use at all, Chiyome always thought. Still, she had a hard time all of a sudden deciding what she was supposed to do: throw, cut or stab?

"Her throat," Haruto gave her a hint. He was still struggling. Somehow he managed to pull the woman's head back, perfectly revealing her bare throat.

Throw, cut, stab. Chiyome decided to for the latter. The blade went in smoothly. The little girl was surprised to find out stabbing a person was easier than stabbing a straw man with a piece of wood. For just a moment, a feeling of accomplishment spread in her.

Haruto let go of the woman and pulled out the kunai as he rolled away.

Chiyome hadn't been prepared for all the blood that suddenly poured out of the woman's throat.

The Kiri shinobi pressed her own hand on the wound to stop the bleeding, but it did her no good. There was shock on her face. Fear soon joined as she realised she was going to die.

Haruto picked Chiyome up and took her away. The girl couldn't take her eyes off the dying woman. She stared back at her, watched her collapse. No one at the Academy had told her that humans bled that much. Straw men never bled at all.

* * *

When Akari arrived at the Hyuuga compound, the fighting was either already over or had moved elsewhere. It was quiet. One of the houses was still on fire, but Akari ran past it and entered the main mansion.

Her first stop was her own room. The lights were on. Three bodies lay on the floor. Dead. One of them was her father. His head was missing, cut off.

Akari swallowed. Pictures of her mother appeared before her eyes. "Chiyome?" she called into the room, just to make sure her daughter wasn't hiding anywhere, too scared to come out.

No answer.

She took her father's hand, squeezed it, before leaving through the big hole in the wall into the gardens.

"Chiyome!" she was yelling now. It didn't matter if enemies would hear her. She needed her daughter to hear her, she needed to find her.

Her heart was racing, and it raced faster and faster the more she called for her, every time without any answer.

Her Byakugan searched the area, her eyes rushed left and right, and left again. "Chiyome!" she called yet again, but there was nothing.

Akari ran towards the heart of Konoha again. There were people on the streets, screaming and crying. Shinobi were everywhere, trying to evacuate the civilians. Her eyes were still searching for her daughter, but instead, she found the Jinchuuriki again.

She was on top of a building, forming signs. A massive tidal wave appeared behind her, towering almost as tall as the wall around Konoha. Akari saw the wave break. And tons of water crashed down at Konoha.

The screaming around her grew stronger as people realised what was coming at them. The shinobi grabbed children and women, ran for the Hokage Rock behind them. But there were too many people and too little shinobi for all of them.

Akari picked up one of the children too. She ran, but soon realised the Rock was still too far. And the water was coming.

It crashed down Konoha's streets, sweeping away anything that couldn't resists its impact. The screams of the people were overshadowed by the crunching and squealing of wood and concrete as the water swallowed anything it touched.

Akari made it to the Hokage building in time, which was tall enough to offer safety on its roof. Other shinobi and civilians were there with her, but many were drifting in the water, trying to hold onto floating debris. Some of them were even Kiri shinobi.

Akari was about to let go of the girl. But the Jinchuuriki, being able to dissolve into water, was now able to travel freely around a drowning Konoha. And with water filling all of the village, she had even better mobility than Tobirama.

Just like that, she appeared out of the water right behind the Hokage building. She was already running up the Hokage Rock when the Konoha shinobi spotted her, summoning another tidal wave.

Akari stared up at the even bigger wall of water that was now coming down on her from right behind. It was about to hit all of Konoha. The people around her started to run, but there was nowhere to run to. Akari held onto the child in her arms tighter. The water crashed onto them, brushed them away.

Akari's body was being whirled around by a force that engulfed her completely, raging with a violent internal force. She was pushed and pulled, paralyzed by the water's grip.

All that went through her mind was to hold onto the girl in her arms.

She collided with something. The impact sent a sharp pain through her body. She could feel the child slip away from her, slowly at first, until she was torn away completely.

Akari gasped. Water filled her lungs. It burned. She was swept against the wall of a house. The water pressed her against it. She couldn't breathe.

Somehow Akari managed to make it to the surface. She grabbed onto the roof above her and pulled herself up. She coughed. The pain had her collapse on the roof. Her legs were trembling. Water was not supposed to be this scary.

The world around her roared, screamed.

There was blood on her dress, the fabric torn, her arms full of cuts. But she couldn't feel the pain. Her body was numb, all apart for her lungs, which still felt like they were on fire.

Akari looked up. There it was. The third wave rose above Konoha.

This one she knew would be the end. She couldn't move. She saw no point in running.

She watched the third wave break.

A wall of ice rose in front of it, extending with the water to form half a dome all around Konoha. The water hit the ice, rebound and poured into the forests instead. On top of the ice crescent stood Tobirama. He ran across it, towards the Jinchuuriki. She was about to dissolve again when the water around her froze solid. Another fight between them started. Swordsmen soon joined, and so did Hiruzen, Riku and others.

Akari pushed herself up. She couldn't just give up when they were still fighting.

People next to her were attacked by a Kiri shinobi. She helped them, killed him. But they didn't run. They weren't thankful. They broke down, cried over their lost house and family members.

Akari told them to go to the Hokage Rock to evacuate, then left them.

The world around her felt surreal, full of destruction. And somewhere among all of it was her daughter. She didn't know where. Didn't know whether she was alive or dead.

Akari called for her. Called her name in every direction.

She hurried down the street, helped free people from debris along the way, defended civilians and shinobi from enemies. And then she found the little girl she'd tried to carry to safety. She lay in the mud, face turned downwards.

Akari turned her around, felt her pulse. There was none.

She softly brushed over the girl's wet hair. She was no older than Chiyome. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. Slowly her mind yielded to despair.

* * *

"Really? You are _crying?"_ Tobirama yelled down at her from the rooftops.

Akari was still sitting on Konoha's streets, a dead girl in front of her. "I can't find her," Akari sobbed. "I can't find Chiyome. I don't know what to do. What if she's…?"

He jumped down to her, only briefly looking at the little girl before grabbing Akari's arm. "Get up! This doesn't suit you." He had to pull her up all the way to get her to stand.

Akari looked defeated, her hair and clothes wet and dirty. She didn't look at him, only at the dead girl.

"You are not finding anyone if you are just sitting here." He looked around. The street was empty, but they could hear fighting not far away. "Help me end this. We'll find her afterwards."

She looked at him, her eyes glassy. "This is my fault. Kiri attacked Konoha because of my clan. I could have prevented all this."

His eyes grew hard. Again, he started to yell at her. "Kirigakure have no right to make demands from either you or me. This is not about your clan. This is an attack on Konoha. You will blame them, not yourself!" His voice was harsh. He was angry, at Kirigakure, but also at her. He didn't blame her for the attack; he blamed her for showing weakness. She could tell from the way he looked at her.

She averted her eyes, wiped some tears away.

"So are you helping or should I just leave you here?"

Akari took a deep breath and straightened herself. "How?"

"Their Jinchuuriki already retreated with one of the Swordsmen. Her seal became too unstable. We just have to take care of the remaining Swordsmen." His voice was completely calm once again as he filled her in on the situation.

Akari grew more hopeful as she heard of the Jinchuuriki's retreat. Still, the Swordsmen were a big enough threat on their own. They were Kirigakure's highest ranking shinobi. The best the village had to offer. "You speak like we will do so in a breeze. I've seen them kill our Anbu. And they still have the backup of other Kiri shinobi."

"I know. But I have a plan. Do you have explosive tags?"

Akari pulled soaked paper out of her pockets. "I don't think they still work."

"Stay here. Collect any dead bodies you can find. Especially those of our enemy. I'll be right back." He threw a kunai with the Hiraishin seal to her and was gone.

Akari didn't understand but went on to search the streets in her proximity for corpses. There were plenty.

Fights were still going on around her, fights she had to keep out of. The Kiri Swordsmen were literally cutting through their shinobi. And again the thought crawled into her mind that this might be a lost fight after all. Whatever Tobirama was planning, he couldn't be everywhere at once. And everywhere in Konoha, people were dying.

It didn't take long and the Hokage appeared next to her again, arms filled with all sorts of tags.

"I don't see how these are going to help us," Akari said, looking around her with her Byakugan. Part of her still hoped to find her daughter. But all she could see was bloodshed and death. "If we don't help them fast –"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" he snarled at her.

He started taking the clothes off the corpses and covered their bodies with tags before putting the clothes back on. "Help me, would you?"

Akari still couldn't see the bigger picture but helped him regardless.

Once they were done preparing the last one, Tobirama infused chakra into their necks, and a sealing formula appeared there, one that Akari had never seen before.

Tobirama looked around one last time before sitting down to gather chakra. "Make sure no one interrupts. Don't let anyone close," he said, eyes closed. He formed sign after sign.

Akari carefully observed the hand signs he used. She'd never seen a jutsu that took this many. Eventually, one of the corpses started twitching. It moved a hand, then a leg, and soon rose.

Akari took a few steps back, her eyes locked on the dead bodies that one after one seemed to come back to life. Most of them were their enemies. Kiri shinobi whose bodies she'd collected. But they didn't attack her. They moved more limbs, as though to test their movement capabilities. Then they jumped off and were gone.

Tobirama was still sitting on the ground, eyes closed, hands still formed into the last sign.

There was a loud bang not far away, followed by another. The explosive tags went off.

Akari's eyes showed her what was happening. The corpses were going back to their fellow shinobi. And before those realised what was going on, the walking dead activated the tags on themselves.

Akari watched shinobi after shinobi being torn up by explosions. Some corpses had poison tags on them, others exploded into a cloud of acid. It was a slaughter. A slaughter that was now directed towards Kirigakure.

The Kiri shinobi eventually gave in to panic. They didn't understand why their own turned against them. Mistrust spread fast. And soon, the first started running.

Akari found herself lost somewhere in between amazement and shock. She turned back to Tobirama.

He was now kneeling, his hands pressed against his head. He was in pain.

"Are you alright?" Akari kneeled next to him, but he immediately pushed her away.

"Don't touch me!"

Akari could see the dark chakra of the twotails spread in him, filling every single corner of his body, replacing Tobirama's light-blue chakra.

"I've used too much of the twotails chakra," he explained, seeing how Akari stared at him with big, worried eyes. "I'll be alright in a minute. Just need to push it back again." He tried to reassure her but the pained groans that followed didn't quite convince her he was right.

"Get a hold of yourself! We can't have the twotails go rampage now," she said, but her words barely helped.

Akari kept observing the chakra that was now starting to pour out of him, cloak him. She realised he did not manage to push it back at all.

More out of impulse than anything else, Akari collected chakra in her fingers and pushed it into the chakra points in his belly. He cried out, grabbing her arm to stop her. But she continued pressing point after point.

"Did you just…" he grunted at her.

"I'm sorry, I know it hurts. I cut off your chakra points around the seal. This should stop its chakra from pouring into you."

Tobirama was squirming with pain in front of her. His nails dug deep into her flesh as he grasped onto her so hard his knuckles turned white.

It hurt Akari, but she quietly endured it, knowing he was in much more pain.

He eventually fell over and collapsed onto the ground. The groaning turned into heavy breathing.

"You should go. Find Chiyome," he said, rolling on his back.

"I can't just leave you here in this condition. I don't want to be responsible should anything happen to the Hokage." She scanned the area with her Byakugan again; it still seemed safe. Most Kiri shinobi were gone.

"I'll be fine. I just need a moment to rest. Go."

Akari nodded. She jumped up the roof. The sight of destruction all around her left Akari feel empty. This was much worse than the destruction Madara had brought onto Konoha.

* * *

Akari found Riku again before she could find Chiyome. Her first question was whether he'd seen Chiyome. Riku smiled, and nodded, telling her she was at the Hokage Rock with those that had been evacuated, safe.

Akari wrapped her arms around him as a huge weight was lifted from her heart. He hugged her back. A warm feeling spread in her. She'd missed him.

She left him to go to her daughter.

At the Hokage Rock, people were still hiding in the secret tunnels. There were mostly civilians and children. Akari walked past the groups, eyes searching for her daughter's snow-white hair. Finally, she spotted her.

Her brother was carrying her. He was surrounded by their grandfather and guards from the side branch. There was blood on both of them, but she could tell it wasn't their own.

"Mama!" Chiyome reached out to her mother, who immediately clasped her to her bosom.

"Thank you, brother." She wanted to give him a hug too, but he withdrew from her.

"Where were you?" he asked, demanding an answer.

"I was on guard duty."

"You should have come home. They attacked us. Attacked her. Father, he's…" He stopped for a moment. "You should have been there to help."

"Haruto…" Again, she wanted to take his hand, comfort him. She knew he needed support, could see that he wasn't just angry; he was suffering. But he didn't let her.

"I have work to do." He turned around and left her. His guards followed him.

Akari watched after him, unsure whether she should follow him or give him time.

"Your daughter will need the caged-bird seal," her grandfather said.

She didn't know what shocked her more, the fact her daughter had learned to use the Byakugan already or the fact that this was the first thing her grandfather had to tell her after all that happened.

She took Chiyome and distanced herself from him. Her father had always been strict. But her grandfather was stricter. And now Haruto was next in line.

Akari spotted Sakumo. He was with some other children of shinobi, who all patiently waited for their parents to return. She took a deep breath. The thought of what she would have to do next pained Akari. She put her daughter down on the ground again, put a hand on her head.

"Can you stay here with Sakumo and the others a bit longer? There are some people in the village that need my help."

Chiyome looked back at her with big sad eyes but nodded.

Akari left her. This time, she knew her daughter was safe.

* * *

* * *

Tobirama was sitting in the Hokage office. His finger monotonously tapped on the desk. His eyes were lost in thought.

There was a knock on the door. He straightened himself.

Akari stepped inside. She stopped right at the door, unwilling to fully step inside just yet. "You wanted to talk to me?"

He offered her to take a seat, and she sat down opposite of him. Her eyes glanced over his desk in search of hints why he'd called her in. He usually never did.

"I'm leaving for a mission soon." He paused. Akari patiently waited for him to continue. Tobirama took some of the documents laying around to reorganise them, giving off the impression he was still busily working. They'd already been in perfect order, but he wanted his next statement to sound as casual as possible. "I've decided to appoint my successor. A cautionary measure in these times."

Akari's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Cautionary measure?"

He nodded. "Hiruzen will be my successor, should anything ever happen to me." He put the documents back and started tapping with his finger again, faster this time. "However, since Hiruzen will join me on this next mission, I also thought of some cautionary measures for the unlikely event that neither of us should return. In that case –"

"Wait, what kind of mission is that?" she interrupted him.

Tobirama frowned. "Where are your manners?"

She ignored his comment. "Why would you appoint not only one, but two successors? What are you planning to do, knock on Kirigakure's door and hand yourself over to them?"

The frown on Tobirama's forehead remained as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of him. "It's a secret mission."

She answered with a frown of her own.

"Anyway, as I said, I talked with Hiruzen and came to the conclusion that you should be his advisor. And thus Hokage, should the situation call for it."

Akari's frown vanished as her mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not becoming Hokage."

"You aren't. I'm not dead, and neither is Hiruzen."

"Then why would you even make these decisions?

"We are shinobi. Our life is not exactly a safe one. Should my time run out, I want to die knowing my village will have a good leader to take my place."

"Well, that leader won't be me. I don't mind being Hiruzen's advisor, but I will not lead a village."

"Most would feel honoured in your position."

"Then why don't you choose one of them? Why me?"

"I can't announce another Senju as Hokage. The Uchiha would riot. I can't exactly choose an Uchiha as Hokage now either. They have too many internal issues. Setsuna was never raised to be a clan's leader. Seeing how he struggles keeping his clan together, I doubt him or anyone else would prove a good Hokage at this point. And next in line are the Sarutobi and Hyuuga clan. Besides, you used to be my brother's student, and Hiruzen used to be mine."

"Then what about Lord Sarutobi? He's often helped here in the office."

"Sasuke is older than I am. This title, this duty, is supposed to be given to the next generation. Konoha should look forwards, not back."

"I'm not even a clan's head," Akari protested. "I belong to the branch family."

"And yet you were raised to be a leader for all your life. More so than your brother. Or would you prefer if I chose him instead of you?"

Akari's gaze dropped. As much as she wanted her brother to be a suitable candidate, she knew he was not. Haruto was like Setsuna, struggling to meet their clan's expectations. She couldn't blame him. They'd lost their father too early. For Akari it was hard because she lost the person who raised her, the person who'd given life to her. But for her brother, it was more than that. He'd lost a father and had been given a whole clan instead. He hadn't been prepared. Their father hadn't taught him enough yet.

"Then what about Danzo?" she said instead. "Lord Saturobi basically raised him."

"Danzo is from a very small clan. Even if Sasuke might have raised him, he's not a Sarutobi."

"I thought everyone in Konoha was supposed to be family," she protested again. "It's not fair that you will choose Hiruzen and me over Danzo because of our clans. Not when he is equally suitable."

"Akari, stop arguing. I've given this enough thought already. These are not the right times to revolutionise our system. We are at war. If these were peace times, of course I would consider Danzo. I would even consider someone like Riku Hatake for all it's worth, despite him knowing less about politics and etiquette than Tsunade with her six years of age. Because I would have time to teach. I'd be here. But these are not peaceful times, and I need to know that my successor is someone I can trust, right now. Someone who knows how to lead, who will have everyone's respect."

Akari dropped her gaze. She didn't like where this conversation was going. She didn't like its implications.

Tobirama shifted his weight from one side to the other. There was more he had to say. But he couldn't find the right words to start just yet. He didn't want her to question him, but she was sure to do so. He didn't want her involved, yet she was one of the scarce number of people he trusted. He needed her involved.

Tobirama eventually handed her the scroll without saying a word.

Akari took it, confused. "Can I open it?" She did once he nodded. Her face became even more confused. "A poem?"

"The actual information will become apparent once you infuse chakra. It's…" He paused. Part of him wanted to grab the scroll again and simply send her home. "The Edo Tensei."

"The jutsu you used to revive the dead? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It's not exactly the jutsu. It's my research on it. Part of it. I split it up. Yours is one out of four."

Akari stared at the scroll in her hand like it was some abnormality. A sharp ' _why?'_ was all she could manage. Tobirama remained silent, giving her mind more time to make sense out of this. She wanted to pass the scroll back to him, but he made no attempt to take it.

"Look, I apologise for doubting you and this jutsu back then. It wasn't my place to. And it still isn't my place. The end justifies the means, right? So take this back."

He got up, took a few steps towards the windows, away from her and the scroll. He leaned against the wall, his eyes overlooked Konoha. "It's not like you were wrong though. Inappropriate, but not wrong. This jutsu shouldn't exist. What you saw when Kirigakure attacked was only a small portion of what this technique is able to do. The Edo Tensei… I believe it is a jutsu that could break this world, destroy the balance of nature. It shouldn't exist, yet I couldn't bring myself to destroy years of research. After all, it's also a weapon that might one day be needed."

Akari's hand was still holding the scroll towards him. "I am immensely honoured by the trust the Second Hokage seems to have in me." She spoke with sharp irony. "Yet I don't think I'm the right person to entrust a jutsu able to break the world with. What am I supposed to do with this? Hang it on my walls for display?"

He smiled at her. It irritated Akari. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen him smile.

"Sometimes the most obvious hiding spots are the hardest to detect." He shrugged his shoulders, seemingly not caring at all whether she would really decorate her wall with part of the Edo Tensei. "Just take it. If you don't want it, burn it. That would probably be for the best."

He looked outside again, at Konoha. Many buildings were still destroyed and everywhere, shinobi and civilian were busy rebuilding. He watched one of his Jounin create a wooden plank using Wood Release. The shape wasn't perfect, and a carpenter took it away for processing. Tobirama thought of his brother, how much faster they would be able to rebuild would he still be there.

Akari sighed and finally lowered her hand. Rather because it had gotten heavy than her having accepted the scroll. "So what about the other three parts?"

"I gave them to three other people I trust." He didn't have to name them. "An immense amount of chakra is required to perform it though. Most likely, only a Jinchuuriki would be able to use it."

Again, Akari's gaze dropped. She pressed her lips together, trying to rid herself of the feeling that had been spreading in her throughout this conversation. But it didn't go away.

"You are making preparations to die," she finally noted.

The sentence hung in the air for a while.

"I'm not planning to die." He straightened himself and sat down opposite of her again. "I just like to have all the possibilities covered."

"Then tell me about this mission," she demanded, leaning forward to him. "You can't just entrust Konoha and the Edo Tensei with me and then not even let me in on this mission."

He considered for a moment. "We've gathered intel on a secret meeting between the Tsuchikage and the Mizukage. It is to take place in Kirigakure, in about a week's time." His eyes again glanced towards the windows behind him. "Kirigakure will pay for what they did to Konoha."

"You are planning to infiltrate Kirigakure?"

Tobirama nodded. "I will burn their whole village to ashes."

"But why do that when the Tsuchikage is present? He'll make sure to bring his best shinobi to Kiri." She suddenly realised that was exactly the reason why, so she added, "It's a long journey from the Land of Stone to the Land of Water. Right through our lands. It would be much safer to face him here. Facing Kiri with the help of another Kage and his entourage, that's…"

"We don't know when or where he'll be travelling. You know what they say, two birds with one kunai."

Akari already opened her mouth to protest, but he interrupted her. "Don't. I've made a decision already."

"Still, you shouldn't put yourself into this position," she argued anyway. "You are our Hokage. This village needs you. What happens if you do die? Without you, Konoha would be completely destroyed now."

"You are right. I am the Hokage. It is my responsibility to protect Konoha. And Kirigakure and Iwagakure need to pay for what they have done. They have crossed the line. I'm done trying to solve this the peaceful way. I'll make sure Kirigakure bleeds enough they won't dare raise their swords against Konoha any time soon. They won't be able to hold a sword at all."

She bit her lip. "Then take me with you."

"You know I can't do that. Someone has to watch over Konoha while I'm gone. I can't take you all with me and leave Konoha defenceless."

"That's it? Then why don't you leave Hiruzen here and take me instead? You want to make him Hokage in case something happens to you. So wouldn't it make sense if he doesn't join you on this mission? I have the Byakugan. You know how useful it is, right? I want to come with you."

Tobirama grunted and turned his head away from her. Quietly he said, "I know my reasoning is flawed here. You don't need to point it out to me."

"So you admit it?"

"I do." He glanced back at her. "Maybe, I've come to realise that Madara had a point."

Akari frowned. "What are you talking about? Madara betrayed us. He betrayed Konoha."

"Madara would have died for Konoha. He loved this village. But he wasn't an idealist like my brother. He acknowledged that blood is thicker than water. The people that raised you, the brother you grew up along, the child that is your own flesh and blood. Madara loved nothing more than his own family. I guess, it's natural."

Akari grew quiet.

"You always repeated my brother's words. You always put Konoha above your own clan. Above yourself. But you feel it too, don't you?"

She didn't answer. She didn't have to. He studied her from across the desk, her eyes in particular. She returned his look.

He was the first to turn away from her again as he straightened himself once again in his chair. "My brother always tried to treat everyone equally. He forbade himself to feel more strongly about his own son than his students or village. It left Takuma frustrated. And it left Hashirama exhausted. I respect what my brother has built here. I wish for Konoha to be one big family, to embrace the Will of Fire. But it would be pretentious to act like our own blood doesn't hold the most special place in our hearts."

Akari stared at him with big eyes before putting a hand to her mouth to hide her giggles. "Is this actually Tobirama Senju I am talking to? Who knew you could be this sentimental."

Tobirama crossed his arms. One of his fingers tapped his pullover as his eyes narrowed at the girl across his desk. "You think this is funny, huh?"

She was still softly laughing but shook her head. "It was a good speech." She was teasing him with another grin, but her words were sincere.

His lips turned into a small angry pout.

"Well, I'm aware arguing with the Second Hokage is rather futile. So I shall accept my fate and stay in Konoha." She spoke in a joking manner, but the feeling remained that this mission was more than just dangerous. She ignored it, knowing she couldn't change his decision. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

She nodded. Silence followed.

"So," they both said at the same time. They shared a short smile.

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Akari asked.

"No, this was all."

"Right." She took the scroll he'd given her and stood up. She bowed before making her way to the door. Her hand was already on the doorknob when she stopped. "I'd look really bad in Hokage robes, so make sure you and Hiruzen make it back safely. And everyone else."

One last time, Tobirama smiled at her.

* * *

Akari was sitting in the Hokage office. Her finger monotonously tapped on the desk.

The door opened and three little children came dashing in like a whirlwind. Immediately, the once silent room came to life and filled with child's laughter.

Akari blinked and straightened herself. She found herself at the wrong side of the desk. "I told you three, no running in the Hokage building. Go play in the garden." Her voice was strict, harsh almost.

Tsunade pouted. "My grandfather always allowed me to run around. This is his room, not yours!"

"This is the Second Hokage's office now, and he does not allow you to run in here either," Akari snapped back. She didn't like the girl's tone. Chiyome would not talk to her like that.

"You are no fun!" Tsunade yelled and stormed off again.

Slowly Chiyome approached the desk and her mother. "Are you angry?" she asked with childish innocence and a worried frown on her forehead.

Akari sighed. She looked down at the documents in front of her, the many piles. One of them consisted of the files of the shinobi that had joined Tobirama on the mission in Kirigakure. None of them had returned yet. Akari knew it was nothing to worry about just yet. Still she couldn't help worrying a great deal.

Chiyome carefully climbed up to sit on her lap. Sakumo was still standing in the door, somewhat unsure whether he should go after Tsunade or wait for Chiyome.

"Do you want me to show you what I learned?" Chiyome asked with a bright smile on her face.

Her mother too smiled, if only a little. "Of course."

Chiyome noticed all the documents on her mother's desk. "But it's water jutsu though."

"Oh, little girl. I don't have time for water jutsu now. Show me later, alright?" She looked through the shinobi files. Riku, Hiruzen, Danzo. The thought that none of them might return from this mission scared her. The thought that this room might become her office scared her even more. The mission had been high-risk. She'd been against it. And now all she could do was wait.

Akari stroked her daughter's arm. Her hand stopped on the bracelet she was wearing. She wasn't used to seeing it on Chiyome yet, the bracelet that had been a gift for her second birthday. Akari had kept it stored away until she finally decided to give it to her daughter after all.

Chiyome proudly showed her the bracelet when she realised her mother was staring at it.

Akari smiled another, more sincere, smile. "You know, maybe I'll take a break and you can show me that water jutsu outside."

Her daughter was immediately filled with excitement. She jumped down and joined Sakumo, who was still patiently waiting for her. Akari followed them out of the Hokage building.

It was a cold autumn day, yet the air felt pleasantly fresh. Chiyome was already forming signs by the time her mother had closed her coat and stepped next to her.

The girl concentrated, blew water into her hands, and manually started forming it. When she opened her hands, there was the figure of a butterfly, made out of water. She showed her mother with pride glowing in her eyes.

Akari's eyes grew bigger. "How did you…? Who taught you that?"

"I taught me! Oh no…" Suddenly, the water dissolved again and dropped down to the ground. "I broke it."

"You taught this to yourself?" Akari checked.

Chiyome nodded and pointed at Sakumo. "Sakumo helped me. And Tsunade a bit too."

Akari was speechless. Shape transformation was nothing a little girl was supposed to figure out on her own.

"Do you not like it, mama?" The glow in Chiyome's eyes vanished. "I wanted to make more of them, and they should also flap their wings. But I can't do that yet."

Akari pressed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I love it," she said. "I can't wait to see the little butterflies fly around." She smiled at her daughter, a bright smile.

Chiyome wasn't just talented. She was so much more than that, Akari was sure. Chiyome was destined for greatness. This little child had changed her world, and maybe, she would change more than that.

A snowflake suddenly blew past them. Akari looked up. White flakes danced in the sky, slowly making its way down towards Konoha.

"Snow?" Sakumo and Chiyome grew excited at the thought of snowball wars.

Akari opened her hand. Snowflakes landed on her palm. It barely ever snowed in Konoha.

"Lady Akari!" a shinobi came running at them. "They are back! The Lord Second's squad is back."

Akari walked to Konoha's gate with the two children. Her heart was beating heavily. She didn't like going to the gate with Sakumo and Chiyome. They were always full of anticipation to see Riku again. And every time, on their way to the gate, Akari feared the day Riku would not return. That day came for most active shinobi eventually.

There was already a small group of people that had gathered at Konoha's entrance to welcome their family members and comrades, to make sure everyone made it back. Akari could already tell that some were missing. Maybe she was late and they'd already gone home, she told herself.

Riku was the first she spotted. Sakumo immediately ran at him and gave his father a big hug. Akari knew something was awfully wrong when Riku's eyes met hers. He walked over to her, slowly, a heavy air surrounding him.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close. He didn't say a word, only held onto her tightly.

"Riku, what are you…? Stop it, people are watching." She tried to sound normal, annoyed, but there was a big knot in her throat.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Slowly, he let go again.

Hiruzen came over too. He wore a similar look on his face, had a similar air around him.

And suddenly, Akari realised their Hokage was dead.

Snow continued to fall, welcoming Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, back to his village.

It was a cold start to his rule. Yet when spring came again, Kirigakure was still stuck in a circle of internal conflicts about the election of their next Kage and heirs to their legendary swords. Their losses had been devastating, and left the village divided on how to move forward. Meanwhile, Konoha blossomed anew, and with the first green leaves that grew all around the village, Konoha had rebuild and peace returned once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess this turned out longer than expected once again. I really didn't want to introduce more OCs, there are enough already. But Yasha Tsuchinoko was kind of necessary to give one of the canon characters appearing in the next chapter a bit of a background and backstory (guess we can all guess who that'll be).  
> Another one of the (small) changes I made is the Uzumaki Bloodline we saw in this chapter. I want my AU to stay slightly more "realistic" than canon. My bloodlines don't include nature transformations like ice release, those can be learned by anyone through hard work (because why would your body be able to use water and wind, but not combine it to ice? I also like the idea of a shinobi without bloodline being able to become special and badass by putting work into nature transformations and figuring out how to combine them).
> 
> Anyways, I try to keep my bloodlines somehow related to "body part changes". The Senju have highly increased lifeforce and regeneration, the Uchiha and Hyuuga have improved eyes, Kimimaro's clan(not really relevant here, just an example) would have special bones etc.
> 
> Since all the Uzumaki have red hair and that's sort of iconic for them, I wanted their hair to be their bloodline. And magical hair can pretty much work like chains too, so there you go! The bloodline still pretty much does the same, only difference being their hair is the special part. Relevant to the plot? Nope, I just thought it was cool :)


	8. Year 6 - Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Man, again I tried real hard to have only one chapter for Year 6 but decided it was getting too long after I reached 12000+ words.
> 
> Also, I usually try to upload at least one chapter a month, but my life's pretty stressful right now with exams and all, so new chapters might take a while. Part 2 of this one is almost finished though :)
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Orochimaru was walking through the forest, holding onto his mother's hand. He looked up at the dense carpet of leaves above him. He'd never seen such tall trees before. They scared him, towering over him like giants. It was nothing like the open sea that surrounded the Country of Water.

"We are almost there, Orochimaru." His mother stopped. Soon, Konoha's scouts would spot them. "You remember what I told you, right?"

Orochimaru nodded.

His mother kneeled next to him, a small black snake in her hand. It was so tiny, it reminded more of a worm than a snake. Orochimaru opened his mouth and she let the snake vanish in there.

Another snake vanished in his mother's nose. The air around her changed almost immediately. Determination was replaced with worry and anxiety. "Let's continue. Soon we will reach Konoha, and we'll be safe there."

Orochimaru wondered why they had stopped in the first place. He couldn't remember.

It did not take long for the Konoha shinobi to surround them.

"State your clan and intention," one of them demanded.

Orochimaru's mother let go of her son's hand and slowly put hers up in the air.

"Tsuchinoko. My son and I are seeking refuge. We fled from Kirigakure."

The Konoha shinobi exchanged looks, then the one in charge said, "Search her. And the child too."

More shinobi appeared around them. Orochimaru grabbed onto his mother's jacket as they searched their bodies for weapons. Apart from some kunai and shuriken that most shinobi carried at any time, they found nothing of interest.

They sent a messenger ahead while tying up both mother and son. Ochochimaru didn't fight back. Neither did his mother. She'd told him this was going to happen, and she'd told him that it would be alright. Yet it scared him that these hostile shinobi were in control.

Still, he quietly followed them when they lead them further to Konoha. He didn't even struggle when they blindfolded him.

Orochimaru didn't know where they took him. The last thing he saw was the green leaves of the tree's above him.

They led him down some stairs. He could feel his surroundings become darker.

The group of shinobi eventually split up. "Mother?" He wanted to make sure she was still with him. But she didn't answer. Orochimaru refused to walk on, but the shinobi around him pushed him forward. A door opened and closed behind him. It sounded heavy, like metal. When they took his blindfolds off, he found himself in a small room with only one table and a few chairs. An interrogation room, he concluded. Subconsciously his eyes started searching for tools and weapons in the room. The little boy knew what interrogations were like, the way shinobi squeezed information out of someone. He'd promised his mother to be brave, yet the thought of being alone with these Konoha shinobi terrified him. They would protect them, his mother had said, yet here he was, in an interrogation room.

A woman entered. Her eyes were of a turquoise colour Orochimaru had never seen before. He wondered if she was a Yamanaka.

The way the other shinobi stepped backwards when she entered told him that she was the one leading the interrogation. To his surprise, she smiled at him as she sat down and offered him a seat as well.

"Do you want something to drink? Tea or juice maybe? We might even find some hot chocolate if you'd like that."

Orochimaru declined, despite being thirsty. He wondered why his mother had told him to trust these people. It wasn't like her to trust strangers, enemies. But now that he thought about it, it seemed there was no reason to distrust them.

* * *

It wasn't the first time that refugees arrived at Konoha's gate. But usually, those refugees were civilians. Rarely ever did a shinobi seek protection from a village they did not belong to. And never did shinobi from bigger clans change their alliances. A clan was family. Betraying your family was more than treachery. So suspicion at the arrival of a Tsuchinoko woman was high. But she claimed her clan no longer existed. They had been murdered by other Kiri clans. Murdered for the Hiramekarei and the position of the next Mizukage. Those left either fled or stayed to die for their honour. Kirigakure was drowning in blood.

Akari was sitting in her office. It had been Hiruzen's office before he became Hokage, and it had been Tobirama's before him. The walls were still covered with shelves and books. Neither Akari nor Hiruzen refurnished the room. They'd kept it the way it had always been. Just like the Hokage's office still looked like Hashirama's office.

Akari and Hiruzen tried their best to fill the void the two Senju had left. Yet they couldn't help feeling like they were some sort of impostors. Like these two rooms weren't theirs. They'd grown up with Hashirama as their Hokage and Tobirama as his right hand. It had always been like that.

Konoha was Hashirama's village.

Akari sighed and grabbed the next document on her pile. It was yet another trade agreement.

There was a knock on the door. Her daughter soon peeked inside.

"I'm sorry, Chiyome. I still have work to do. Go ahead without me, alright?"

Chiyome's gaze dropped. Being the Hokage's advisor was a time-consuming job. Hiruzen put an immense amount of effort and time into being Hokage. He slowly evolved into a workaholic like Tobirama, paired with Hashirama's heart and the desire to help and please every single member of his village. Akari felt obliged to meet that standard as well.

"But you said we'd train with ninja weapons today. I'm so bad at throwing kunai and shuriken. My teacher said if we still need more practice, we should ask our parents."

Akari checked the time. It wasn't late yet, but with the Tsuchinoko woman seeking refuge in Konoha, she doubted she would be able to leave any time soon. "You know, I'm actually not that good with kunai either. Why don't you train with Sakumo for now? I heard he is really good at it. Riku should be home too."

Akari noticed that her daughter wasn't meeting her gaze. She was looking a bit further up, at Akari's seal. The little girl was wearing the same seal on her forehead now.

Chiyome left without saying another word.

Shortly after, Hiruzen entered the office.

"The Yamanaka are done assessing their memories. Are you coming?"

Akari nodded and got up. Together they walked back to Hiruzen's office. Danzo was standing in a corner next to the door, wearing his usual Anbu attire and mask. He stayed with Hiruzen whenever he wasn't on a mission. Danzo was a naturally suspicious person, so he did not appreciate a Tsuchinoko seeking refuge in his village. He approved scanning their minds for information. It would benefit Konoha after all. But he didn't want them to stay. Even if Kirigakure was hunting them down, the risk for Konoha to take them in was still too high.

A dark glimmer rested on the Yamanaka's face. Danzo was already expecting that he'd found out she was a spy, but instead, the man swallowed and said, "It seems she's told the truth. I found memories of the conflicts in Kirigakure." He paused for a moment, still shaken from all the things he had experienced through her eyes these last few hours. "It seems the situation in the Waves is worse than we have knowledge of. The Tsuchinoko clan is basically going extinct from what I've seen. Clans are slaughtering each other. The stronger the clans and their bloodlines, the more enemies they have."

"The boy showed me the same," another Yamanaka confirmed. "Kirigakure has fallen victim to complete chaos. Every clan wants their own leader to become the next Mizukage."

The other nodded again. "Yasha Tsuchinoko, he was one of the Swordsmen and involved in the attack on Konoha last year. He was the woman's husband and advisor to the deceased Mizukage. It seems the other clans were scared of the Tsuchinoko's power in particular, so they targeted them."

Hiruzen had heard enough. "Bring them here. The boy and her may stay."

"But Hiruzen, she's still the enemy," Danzo immediately intervened before the two Yamanaka could leave.

"The Yamanaka were once our enemies too. So were the Nara, the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. This village wouldn't exist if the First Hokage hadn't put his trust in them."

"You are too optimistic," Danzo returned. "You know the name Yasha Tsuchinoko, don't you? We killed him when we infiltrated Kirigakure. _Your father_ killed him. We are the reason that Kirigakure is burning and that this woman has lost her husband. Why would she want to join our village?"

"And you are too pessimistic," Hiruzen returned. "The woman has a child. She wouldn't bring her little son to a foreign village if she aimed for revenge."

"Naïve," Danzo interrupted him.

"Madara forgave Tobirama for killing his brother when they founded Konoha." Hiruzen slightly rose his voice at Danzo, but their conversation still sounded more like an argument among friends than a leader speaking to his subordinate. "If believing in the good of people is naïve, then so be it."

"And in the end, Madara betrayed us after all."

Akari cleared her throat before saying, "Maybe you two should discuss this in private."

The two Yamanaka were still standing in the doorway, unsure whether their orders held true.

Hiruzen turned away from Danzo and shook his head. "We discussed this already and I have made my decision. Again, bring them here."

The two Yamanaka had already left when Hiruzen's glance fell on Akari to seek affirmation. She nodded, despite having doubts herself. Danzo was right to an extent. Hardly any shinobi would leave their clan and village behind to join another. Yet maybe she would, for Chiyome. But Hiruzen was a smart man. He was aware of the risk he took. And Akari could respect that.

When the Tsuchinoko woman entered the Hokage's office, her eyes first fell on Akari. She huffed. "A Hyuuga, huh? If only our Lord Mizukage hadn't been so obsessed with those eyes of yours. He was powerful, yet a fool."

Akari didn't answer. She wasn't interested in discussing the conflict between Hyuuga and Kirigakure yet again. It had caused both sides enough problems.

The Hokage straightened himself. "We approve your request for asylum. You may become a citizen of Konoha. There is only one condition: You will not continue life as a shinobi. You shall seek a different occupation, and you are not permitted to own and carry weapons of any sort. Should it come to my notice that you do carry weapons or use jutsu of any sorts, you will lose your right to stay in Konoha," he explained, trying his best to give an impression of authority.

The woman barely seemed impressed. "An interesting choice. I do not mean to sound boastful, but I could have added value as a shinobi to this village. Yet I understand your reasoning and I shall comply." It took a moment before she lowered her head to slightly bow. "I thank you, Lord Hokage."

The little boy next to her imitated her gesture and bowed as well. He stared at the Hokage with the sad eyes of a child who had lost its family and home.

"You are Orochimaru, right?" Hiruzen asked with a smile on his face. "I hope you'll like Konoha and find lots of new friends soon. Do you like sweets? I think I still have…" He walked over to his desk, opened a drawer and grabbed one of the small candies he stored there. "Here, these are my favourites. They are a specialty here in Konoha."

He offered it to Orochimaru, who glanced at his mother before taking it.

Danzo's body was full of tension as he stood in the corner and watched his friend try and make friends with the little boy from Kirigakure. One of his hands he kept close to his kunai. This woman and her son were now part of Konoha. But he couldn't trust them just yet.

* * *

The sun had been long gone when Akari finally arrived home. She had spent the rest of the day preparing papers and documents for the Tsuchinoko woman and her son, as well as helping with their housing situation.

When she entered the Hyuuga mansion, her brother and grandfather were already waiting for her. They called her into Haruto's office before Akari had even reached her room and could check on her daughter.

"Akari, my dear grand-daughter." He offered her a seat in front of Haruto's desk and sat down behind it.

Haruto was sitting at a small coffee table next to them, sipping at some tea and pretending the conversation didn't involve him. Yet his sister could tell he disliked that their grandfather took his place. Understandable, though he didn't object.

"Haruto and I have discussed the matter for a few days now, and we decided that your seal shall be removed again."

His words came as a surprise. Akari had never considered the possibility of having her caged-bird seal removed. She wondered what implications this would have for their clan. Were there supposed to be two independent main families? A short glance at her brother told her that this had not been his decision. It was their grandfather who ruled the clan once again.

Meanwhile, her grandfather kept talking. "You are a shining sun for our clan. I've heard so much praise these days for your work at the Hokage office. It makes me immensely proud to think a Hyuuga occupies such a high position here in Konoha."

"What about my daughter?"

It wasn't a question her grandfather had expected. He uncomfortably shifted his weight. "Your daughter doesn't exactly have the pure blood of one of the main family."

"And yet she is my daughter."

"She is your daughter, of course. I would never dare to claim otherwise. But it is the duty of the main family to keep our bloodline safe and pure."

"I will keep the seal then. I have no desire to belong to the main family. Haruto is our clan's head now." Her brother still sipped at his tea and kept out of the conversation.

"Don't be silly, Akari. One day, you might become Hokage. You ought to belong to the main family."

"And then what?" she asked. "Am I the head of our clan again? Or is it still Haruto?"

Her grandfather carefully considered. Haruto put down his tea mug, suddenly feeling insecure about his position in the clan.

Akari intervened before her grandfather could answer. "I'm not interested. The main family has never branched out. There has always been a straight line. My brother is the clan's head, so there is no space for me. My position in Konoha should not affect our clan's affairs."

She turned away and left them. On her way to her room, she wondered whether she had done the right thing. The topic had taken her aback and she had not been prepared. Her first intuition had been to protect Chiyome, her second to protect her brother. But maybe she should have done what was best for the clan and Konoha. If she was the clan's head, she would be able to change their traditions. She would rid their clan of the caged-bird seal. It was a dream she had given up on long ago. But maybe it was not a dead dream yet.

Chiyome was standing in front of her mother's mirror, her finger traced the caged-bird seal on her forehead. First she'd been proud to receive it. It looked just like her mother's. But that had changed fast, and the little girl was now considering how best to get rid of it, or at least cover it.

She took the scissors. A quick snip and part of her hair was gone. Left were some weird looking bangs.

"Chiyome! What are you doing?" Her mother entered the room and immediately took the scissors away. "Oh dear, look at you."

The girl pressed her lips together, looking like she was being scolded for a crime she hadn't committed. "I want bangs," she quietly explained.

"That I can see," her mother noted, hands on her hips. She then kneeled down to her daughter. "Come here, I'll cut your hair for you."

"Really?" Somehow, Chiyome hadn't expected this. Something told her she wasn't supposed to cover the seal. Her mother never did.

"Of course. I think you will look really cute with bangs. But… you know the caged-bird seal won't vanish, even if hair covers it, right?"

"Yes, I know. It's just that…" For a moment, she wanted to tell her mother how she felt, but she didn't want her to worry. And she didn't want her to think she was weak. "It' nothing. I just want bangs."

Her mother showed her the mirror again when she was done cutting her hair. The seal was now completely covered, hidden just like Chiyome had wanted.

Akari brushed her daughter's hair aside. "The seal is only a symbol, you know? There is no reason to hate it. It does you no harm, nor does it judge you, Chiyome."

"But people always stare at it. They say it means I'm a servant."

Her mother sighed. In that moment, both of them wondered how their lives would be without the seal.

Chiyome's thoughts soon wandered on as her bangs now seemingly solved her problems. "Mama, why do you always call me Chiyome?"

Her mother smiled at the sudden change of subject. "Why, I always assumed that was your name. Is it not?"

The little girl pouted again. "Sakumo calls me Chiyo-chan. Uncle Riku calls me Chiyo-chan too. Today they said they do that because they like me. So why don't you?"

Akari patted her daughter's head. "Names are carefully chosen by parents. Your father chose your name. He wanted you to be called Chiyome, so I am calling you Chiyome."

Chiyome frowned.

"So, shall we have dinner together? You should also show your uncle your new haircut, I'm sure he'll like it," Akari said to change the subject. Her daughter was twiddling with her bracelet, but didn't say anything.

* * *

Chiyome was alone in her classroom together with Tsunade. They were on cleaning duty while the others had gone home already. Tsunade was watering the plants, happily summing a song. Every now and then she would talk. Sometimes Chiyome wasn't quite sure whether she was talking to herself or expected an answer.

Chiyome was wiping the blackboard. It was filled with facts and dates of the First Hokage's life and the foundation of Konoha. She stopped once the sponge reached a picture of Hashirama that one of her classmates had drawn during the break.

Tsunade noticed that she was looking at it. "It really looks like my grandfather, doesn't it? But I think there is something missing." Tsunade took some chalk and added a funny looking mustache to the picture. She giggled to herself. "I always drew one of those on grandpa's face when he fell asleep in his office. One time he didn't notice and went on a meeting with the Sarutobi clan afterwards."

"You really like the First Hokage," Chiyome noted. "I mean, your grandfather."

"Of course I do!" Tsunade said as a matter of course. "My father taught me how to be a good shinobi," she told her while still drawing curls on her grandfather's cheeks. "But grandfather also taught me a lot. He was always busy, but whenever he had a bit of time, we would do lots of fun things." She put down the chalk. "I really miss them. Both of them."

The sad look on Tsunade's face told Chiyome that she was supposed to comfort her. But she didn't know how.

Tsunade spotted that her classmate was at a loss of words, so she kept chattering. Unlike Chiyome, she always found something to say.

"Is your father dead too?" she eventually asked. "Everyone always says you don't have one. I don't get it, everyone has a dad, right? I know how that works!" Tsunade had a way of always talking with firm conviction.

The little girl quietly realised she couldn't answer the question. Her father had never been part of her life. For a long time she hadn't questioned it. And when she did, her mother's explanation that he wasn't allowed to be with them seemed enough. But where was he? She didn't know.

Chiyome shrugged. The look on Tsunade's face left her cheeks burning. She reconsidered her response. Her eyes fell on her bracelet. "I don't think he's dead," she carefully said. "I got this bracelet from him."

Tsunade grabbed Chiyome's hand. "Really? Show me! Wow, it's so pretty. Look, I got a necklace from my grandfather too." She showed her a necklace with a clue crystal.

Chiyome's cheeks stayed flushed red, but this time not because of embarrassment. The girl was delighted that Tsunade thought the bracelet was pretty. It made her proud.

"Anyway, looks like we are all done here. We should leave the picture of my granddad on the board."

Chiyome frowned. "Won't the teacher be mad? It looks like you made fun of the First Hokage."

Tsunade laughed. It was a loud laugh, similar to that of the First Hokage. "That's because I did make fun of him. Look at his mustache! I think the others will like it too. Come on, lets go home." She pulled Chiyome along out of the classroom to make sure the masterpiece she created would not be erased. Once they were outside, she asked, "Are you walking home? We could walk together for a bit."

Chiyome hesitated. She was supposed to wait for Sakumo, but also wanted to spend more time with Tsunade. She liked her. She wanted to be friends. Tsunade was always nice to her, yet they never hung out. Chiyome was too shy to ask and Tsunade was friends with the whole class already. While Chiyome was wondering what to do, two other classmates walked by. They greeted Tsunade excitedly and asked her to go to the park to play _Shinobi and Nukenin._

Tsunade immediately agreed. "Do you want to come too?" she asked, but frowns formed on her friends' foreheads at the question. They didn't want the Hyuuga bastard with them. Chiyome was well aware of this and told them she was waiting for Sakumo.

Tsunade only nodded and left without giving it much thought.

Chiyome watched them leave. She admired Tsunade. The granddaughter of a Hokage, a princess, respected by everyone. Chiyome wanted to be like that too. She wanted to play _Shinobi and Nukenin_ too. It was her classmates' favourite game, one in which one person was the shinobi and had to catch a group of missing nin. But Sakumo and her had never played it. It was no fun with only two people.

The girl walked away from the Academy a bit and sat down on a bench. Standing right in front of the entrance was troublesome. Too many students would stroll past her. Chiyome didn't like it. She preferred to stay away from people.

She took a book out of her bag and started reading until Sakumo's classes finished. A crowd of students swarming out of the Academy told her it was about time.

Most children were already gone, either on their way home or to play and train with friends, when Sakumo came over to Chiyome.

"You have a new haircut, Chiyo-chan. It looks cute."

Chiyome self-consciously touched her forehead. She wanted to ask whether he could still see the seal, but decided against it. Instead, she asked if they could go training together.

"My dad is still working. Should we go to my place and do some shuriken training in the garden?"

Chiyome nodded, but her gaze dropped. She wanted her mother to teach her. All her classmates got taught by their parents.

The two children walked down Konoha's main street towards Sakumo's home. None of them talked until Sakumo stopped in front of a sweet's shop.

"Should we get some chocolate? My dad gave me money for lunch, but I haven't used all of it yet." He could feel there was something upsetting his friend and wanted to cheer her up.

Chiyome nodded again, more eagerly this time.

She waited at the side of the street to not bother anyone, close to one of Konoha's many small parks. She looked around, wondering whether she would spot Tsunade and her friends somewhere. They always went to parks together.

Instead, the girl's eyes found something else. It was a snake in the grass next to her. It was slithering right towards her. Chiyome stumbled backwards. The shock almost made her fall over. She had never seen a real snake before.

"Careful." A boy calmly walked past her. He kneeled and reached out towards the snake.

Chiyome watched him with big eyes as he picked the reptile up. All the while, he remained completely calm, and so did the snake. There was a soft smile on his lips. His hair was long and black, his eyes golden, almost like those of the snake.

"I think you scared her."

"It scared me," Chiyome weakly replied. Soon, a breeze of curiosity came over her. "How can you hold it like that? Aren't you scared?"

The boy slowly reached out to Chiyome with the snake still wrapped around his wrist. "Do you want to pet her?"

She hesitated. "What if it bites?"

"She won't. I can tell."

Sakumo came back, a box of mochi in his hands. His eyes fell on the boy, then the snake. "Who are you?" he asked, with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

The smile on the boy's face was just barely visible. He offered his other hand. "I'm Orochimaru Tsuchinoko. I just moved here."

Chiyome's eyes switched from his hand to the snake right next to it.

Sakumo was the first to greet him with a handshake. Chiyome carefully did so after her friend. She also wanted to touch the snake. It was so close, yet she lacked the courage to close the final distance to pet it.

Suddenly, Chiyome wondered if she could be friends with this boy. If they were friends, they would have enough people to play _Shinobi and Nukenin_. But while the girl tried to find the right words, the boy's mother called him back to her.

She watched him leave, just like she had watched Tsunade leave. The next time they would meet, she would ask him to play together, she decided. They would become friends.


	9. Year 6 - Summer

Hiruzen was standing on top of the Hokage building's roof together with his father. It was a hot day, in the middle of summer. Around him, Konoha was in full bloom. Shops and buildings had been rebuilt and life had returned to normal.

Weeks had passed since the arrival of the Tsuchinoko woman and her child. The Third Hokage slowly felt confident that he'd made the right decision to take the them in. He had an Anbu shadow her but there were no reports on any suspicion activity. She worked in the hospital while her son went to school. He did not join the Academy; he wasn't allowed. Instead, he would grow up as a civilian, despite belonging to one of Kirigakure's most renowned clans.

"You should think about getting married, Hiruzen," his father said while taking a bug puff from his pipe. "A Hokage needs a strong woman by his side."

"I have Akari at my side. As my advisor."

"You know that is not what I mean. If it wasn't for all these wars, you should already be married. Our clan needs an heir, especially now that you are Hokage. You ought to spend more time with Biwako again. You two would be a good fit."

Hiruzen didn't answer. There were a lot of things he had on his mind, but finding a wife was not one of them.

"Hiruzen." Sasuke's face was stern. Even more so than it usually was. "Their family has always been loyal to us, you know that, right?"

Hiruzen was about to nod compliantly when something caught their attention. They had a hunch of danger. But before any of them could identify the source, needles came flying at them. Both dodged. Snakes appeared behind them and wrapped themselves around the Hokage. Before one of them could bite, an Anbu cut them all down with one swift blow of his sword.

Another snake came out of nowhere next to the Hokage building. It was so huge that its head easily reached the roof to attack.

"Go after her," the Hokage told his Anbu. They knew well enough what was happening. It had to be the Tsuchinoko woman. Their clan was known for snake summons.

A fight ensued between Hiruzen and the giant snake. He clearly was its target, but Hiruzen was too fast for it.

The Tsuchinoko woman managed to escape the Anbu, but instead of running away, she went for the Hokage once more. Hiruzen easily outmanoeuvred her while his father and the Anbu held her summon at bay.

He caught her, pressed her to the ground. Another smaller snake wiggled out of her sleeve. One hand was enough for Hiruzen to restrain her. His other hand grabbed the snake before it could do anything and broke its neck.

The woman wasn't much of a fighter. Her summoned snake disappeared again once it realised the fight was lost. She grunted under the pressure of Hiruzen's grasp. "I was hoping to see both of you dead." Her eyes fell on Sasuke, who was pulling out a needle stuck in his shoulder. She grinned. "Too bad I only got one."

Hiruzen looked at his father. He seemed perfectly fine, yet her words worried him.

"Restrain her," he told his Anbu. "Bring her to the interrogation room until we've found her son."

One of the Anbu quickly took ever. Others left to find Orochimaru. The giant snake had attracted many of their shinobi. They were all eager to check if neither Hiruzen nor his father were hurt. The Hokage hadn't even suffered a single scratch. Neither had Sasuke apart from the one needle that hit him.

"We are fine," Sasuke said. "Just a bit…" He faltered, a hand moved to his chest. Within seconds, he collapsed.

"What did you do?" Hiruzen yelled at the woman. But he was well aware what was going on. It could only be poison.

"I revenged my husband," she said coldly without a single hint of emotion in her voice.

* * *

Chiyome was standing in front of Sakumo's classroom. She was waiting for his classes to finish, so they could walk home together. Her mother was busy again. Lately she not only worked at the Hokage's office but also took part in more clan meetings again. The little girl was hoping her mother would finish early today.

The door to the classroom flew open and someone came storming out. It was a boy, one Chiyome had not seen before. He was so busy leaving that he bumped straight into her.

"I'm sorry," Chiyome said despite the fact that he'd run into her.

"What do you want?" the boy snapped at her. He had tousled white hair and a big frown on his forehead.

Chiyome flinched at the harsh reaction. "I uh, nothing. You bumped into me."

He was about to turn away again and leave when she seemed to catch his attention. His eyes wandered from her eyes to her hair. "You are a Hyuuga, right? You are _that_ Hyuuga."

Chiyome was confused. She'd never met this boy before and didn't know what he was talking about.

"You're the daughter of that stupid Hyuuga princess. The Hokage's advisor."

"My mother is not stupid!" Chiyome immediately replied.

"Well, she is. And so are you. I don't like you. My dad is my dad, and not yours! So you stay away from us. You are stupid!" He pushed Chiyome away.

The girl hardly resisted and bumped into the wall behind her. She was too confused at his words.

"Hey!" Sakumo stepped next to her, pushing the boy back in her stead. "Don't you hurt her."

"Then tell her to stay away from us," he growled at them before leaving.

"Who's that?" Chiyome asked, watching the boy walk away with lowered shoulders.

"Jiraiya. He's new in my class. He failed too many exams. Now he has to do them again." Sakumo could see more of his classmates approaching, so he took Chiyome's hand and headed for the front door. He didn't want to hear mean comments from them about him and Chiyome again.

Chiyome stopped just when they were out the door. The sun was shining, birds chirping.

"Wait, what did he mean? Why did he say his dad is not mine?"

Sakumo shrugged. "Some of my classmates called him your brother. But you know they are idiots. I think they just wanted to mess with him. Because he's a civilian." Sakumo knew the feeling. Some of his classmates liked to pick on him because his father used to be a farmer, others because he was close to Chiyome.

The Academy was a constant struggle for everyone trying to be the best. Parents put expectations on their children. Expectations for them to excel, to beat the other kids. The Academy was the perfect place for competition between the clans. And the children used any chance they could get to prove they were superior. Most of the time though, they simply repeated whatever they heard at home. It rubbed a lot of them the wrong way that someone like Sakumo was at the top of the class.

"But what if they are right? Maybe he is my father. We have the same hair colour after all." Chiyome's eyes grew bigger. Her expression filled with hope and fear at the same time.

"He's not. You and I have the same hair colour too. Besides, I asked my dad."

"You asked uncle Riku? Then who did he say is my father?"

"I don't know. He didn't say. Just that it's not Jiraiya's dad."

Chiyome frowned. The little girl usually had a hard time looking angry or displeased. It only ever made her look like a sad puppy. "But how does he know? Mama said it's a secret." She spotted Jiraiya again, leaving the Academy and walking down the road. He was alone, hands tugged into his pockets. "There! Let's follow him."

She took Sakumo's hand, pulling towards Jiraiya. Some of his classmate's teasingly whistled in their direction when they saw them holding hands. The two of them had learned to ignore it.

"I want to see for myself, please," she said.

Sakumo didn't argue. He followed her. Together they sneaked after Jiraiya, shadowed him. Despite Chiyome's serious intentions, she still enjoyed herself. It was like a game of playing shinobi.

Jiraiya walked from one end of Konoha all the way to the other, and eventually left the village through the gate.

Chiyome and Sakumo both stopped, looked at each other. They weren't allowed to leave the village.

"Should we go back?" Sakumo asked. But he could already see the disappointment in Chiyome's eyes. So he added, "Or we could have a short look outside."

The little girl was fighting with herself. Her mother's voice was present in her head, telling her that going outside of those walls on her own was clearly forbidden. _On her own_ , there it was, the loophole. She wasn't alone; she was with Sakumo.

Part of her knew Sakumo didn't count, yet the curiosity of the other part was stronger.

"How do we go out there?" she asked. Her voice was almost a whisper. She did feel like they were doing something forbidden.

"We just walk through. Like Jiraiya did."

Chiyome nodded and again took Sakumo's hand. They walked past the guards together, the girl hiding behind her friend as best as possible. She didn't want them to see her, but she wasn't exactly invisible.

"Where are you two going?" one of the guards asked.

Chiyome cringed. Instead of answering, she grew smaller behind Sakumo.

"We wanted to go visit our friend. Jiraiya, he's my classmate," Sakumo said.

The guard's eyes stuck on Chiyome. He knew her. Everyone did. "Did your mother allow you to go outside the gates?"

Chiyome stared at him with big eyes. She wanted to open her mouth and utter a simple "yes". But she couldn't even part her lips. She couldn't tell a lie.

"She did," Sakumo said for her, his voice perfectly calm. "We are not going far."

The guard didn't seem too convinced but let them pass regardless. There was no rule that forbid anyone to leave Konoha and he didn't know Akari well enough to be aware of the freedoms her daughter did and did not enjoy.

Sakumo and Chiyome quickly hurried on. It took a while for them to find Jiraiya again. He was walking down a small forest path.

The two children soon reached a fisher's house. It was situated right next to the river that also ran through Konoha. A man sat on a wooden dock, a fishing rod in front of him and a bottle in his hand.

"Is that him?" Chiyome asked. They were hiding behind a tree.

The man took a sip from his drink and started talking to Jiraiya. His speech was slurring. Jiraiya inspected a bucket with some fish inside. They both growled at each other, something about not enough money and working harder.

Jiraiya's father had white hair just like his son. And just like Chiyome. He dropped the fishing rod and got up. It seemed hard for him to find balance, so he stumbled left and right before eventually knocking over the bucket of fish. Another argument between him and Jiraiya ensued.

"I don't want that man to be my father," Chiyome said, more to herself than to Sakumo.

"I told you he's not," Sakumo said to reassure her.

Jiraiya picked up the fish as his father vanished in the little wooden hut. He realized someone was watching him.

"What are you two doing here?" He jumped next to them. "Did you follow me?" Being anything but happy to see them, he waved about one of his fish to look intimidating. "Get lost!"

"Calm down, we didn't do anything wrong," Sakumo said calmly. He barely knew Jiraiya yet, but he'd been much nicer when they talked during class. Jiraiya's eyes were focused on Chiyome. He looked at her like she was some sort of intruder, while the girl shyly hid behind her friend. "Neither did Chiyome," Sakumo added. "Maybe you should apologise to her."

"I don't need to apologise to anyone. I can't stand her, so I want her to get lost."

"But we don't even know each other," Chiyome said. "I mean, I'm sorry I stood in your way earlier, but…"

"I know that you are the bastard child of that Hyuuga Princess. That's enough for me to dislike you. Because of your stupid mother my dad got into problems with other stupid clan people. Only because you have the same hair colour."

For a moment, Chiyome thought he was going to throw his fish at her, but he dropped it back into the bucket. She looked over at the house. Jiraiya's father was still gone.

"I don't understand," Chiyome said. "What did my mama do?"

"She talked to my father. Because of… Academy stuff."

"You mean because you failed too many exams and had to repeat a year?" Sakumo wasn't much of a teaser but he couldn't stand Jiraiya's attitude.

"Shut up, Sakumo! You always act like you are a civilian child like me, but you are not. You don't understand a thing about me."

"I still don't understand. What's wrong with talking?" Chiyome asked again.

Jiraiya crossed his arms, frowned. It irritated him that the girl ignored his dislike towards her. She didn't fight back, just stared at him with big violet eyes. Suddenly, he wasn't all too sure anymore why he was angry at her. It seemed a bit silly now that he was supposed to explain it. "Some clan's people came here because they'd seen them together. They said my father harassed your mother and that you were secretly his daughter. But my father isn't like that!" He put special emphasis on his last sentence, already expecting them to not believe him.

"But he's not my father?" Chiyome asked, just to make sure.

"Of course not. That idiot only loves my mother." Chiyome and Sakumo were both slightly taken aback by the tone he used to talk about his father. But Jiraiya only quietly picked up the bucket of fish and left them to head back towards Konoha.

Sakumo and Chiyome followed him. They had no other business outside of Konoha's walls. Jiraiya made sure to always walk far enough ahead of them. He didn't want them to think they now formed a group or anything.

"So your mother is a civilian too?" Sakumo eventually called up to him to break the silence.

"She was."

"Oh." Sakumo's gaze dropped. "I didn't know she was dead."

"She's not." Jiraiya still didn't turn around or wait for them. "She left us. I guess she has a new family now."

"But she's your mother. How can she have a new family?" Chiyome asked.

"I don't care, okay?" he snapped back at them. "I don't even want a mom who's never here. She doesn't love me or my dad or she wouldn't have left. So she can stay wherever she is." Jiraiya ran off as soon as they reached Konoha's gate again. Water slopped over the edge of the bucket, but he didn't care.

Chiyome stared after him. She didn't completely understand yet, but somehow Jiraiya's words had left her sad.

* * *

When Akari reached the Hokage office, she could already hear Danzo and Hiruzen arguing through the closed door. She knocked two times, but they didn't seem to hear it over all the shouting. She decided to forget about her manners this once and entered without being invited.

The two men fell quiet as soon as they noticed her and turned away from each other.

"I heard what happened. How is your father?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "There is not much they can do without an antidote. But we don't even know what kind of poison she used. They are still interrogating her, but so far she hasn't talked."

"Can't the Yamanaka scan her memories for it?" she asked. The air in the room was heavy.

"They already tried," Hiruzen answered. "But without knowing where to look, it might take weeks or months until they find this exact information."

"And his father doesn't have that long!" Danzo was almost yelling again. "I'm telling you again Hiruzen, let me talk to her. I will beat it out of her."

"Stop it, Danzo. I'm done fighting over this. Stay away from her. It's an order." Hiruzen went for the door. "I'm going to see my father." He left.

Danzo waited a moment before leaving as well. Akari went after him. "Where are you going?"

He walked down the stairs. She stopped him before he could reach the basement. One of the doors that led to the secret tunnels of Konoha was there.

"I'm not letting you disobey the Hokage's orders," Akari said as she positioned herself between Danzo and the door. "I thought the Lord Second had taught you how to use your brain instead of getting all emotional."

Danzo turned away from her. "This man raised me. I owe him everything. I can't just let him die. I need to do whatever possible."

"I understand that. Still, if the interrogation team is not getting her to talk, neither will you. So maybe pull yourself together and give Hiruzen the support he needs. Lord Sarutobi is his father too."

"We shouldn't have allowed her to stay," he said to himself. "This is what happens when you trust your enemies."

Akari could see the pain in his eyes. "Let's go upstairs again. The people down there know what they are doing. You'd only be in the way."

Danzo frowned at her, but still turned around to go back to the ground floor. "I'll go look for the boy," he quietly informed her. "Maybe he knows something."

"We already sent out shinobi to find him. I'm sure they are back soon. Why don't you go to the hospital and see Lord Sarutobi?"

Danzo took his Anbu mask and put it back on. "I'll find the boy," he said and left.

Akari was left alone in the entrance hall of the Hokage building. She wished there was something she could do to help. But there really wasn't, so she walked upstairs to her office to continue paperwork. She kept the door open to not miss anything.

Half an hour quickly passed, but Akari had barely managed to get anything done. She had to read documents twice or thrice since her mind kept wandering off.

She could hear someone enter the building again. People were talking. And then there it was – more fighting and yelling. She sighed, knowing that while Hiruzen was absent she was the one responsible.

Downstairs she found Riku and Danzo, together with the boy – Orochimaru. Riku was standing between them, holding onto the child.

"Give him to me," Danzo demanded loudly with anger in his voice. "You are wasting time. The boy might hold valuable information."

"I was ordered to bring him to the Hokage. So back off." Riku's eyes fell on Akari, who was just coming down the stairs. Relief made its way to his face. "Akari, where's the Hokage? Danzo wants to take the boy to one of the interrogation rooms."

Akari's eyes fell on Orochimaru, who was hiding behind Riku, obviously scared and confused. He was the same age as Chiyome. Leaving him alone with an angered Danzo was nothing Akari planned on doing.

"Danzo, go get someone from the interrogation team. I'll take Orochimaru. We can talk up here in one of the conference rooms." She gave the boy a soft smile, hoping he would feel more at ease again. She had hope he would talk to them by his own accord.

"What? Why would you?" Danzo immediately complained. "Why are you all arguing with me?"

"I said go and get someone from the interrogation team," she repeated. "Now. Riku, take the boy upstairs."

Danzo watched the two leave. He knew there was no gain in arguing. Yet he didn't agree. "Are you defending him? He is our enemy. He might even be dangerous."

"He's a child."

"A child can be an enemy as well. Stop acting like a mother. You're a shinobi."

"Danzo." The Hokage's voice stopped their dispute. He'd quietly entered the building. "What are you two doing here?"

Danzo was glad to see his friend. At least now he had the opportunity to overrule Akari. He quickly told him that they had the boy, that they might get information from him.

Hiruzen shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. Akari?" He only glanced at her for a second to signal her to follow him upstairs.

"What are you talking about?" Danzo called after him. His voice was full of anger again. He knew. But he didn't want it to be true.

Hiruzen didn't turn around to him. He still answered. "He died shortly after I arrived at the hospital. What's left to do is decide what to do with the Tsuchinoko." The last part was directed at Akari again. She nodded, ready to follow him.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Danzo yelled after them. "Kill them. Both of them! Let me do it, Hiruzen. She came here for revenge, and I will give it to her."

Akari was not surprised at Danzo's words. "We should first find out how much her son knew. It doesn't look like he was involved."

"Not involved? He came here with his mother. He is one of them. He deserves to die for what they did." Danzo ran after them.

"He does not deserve to suffer for his mother's wrongdoings!" Akari sharply returned. She did feel pity for the boy on a deeper level.

"I couldn't care less what he deserves!" Danzo yelled at her.

"Quiet! Both of you." Danzo and Akari both looked at the Hokage expectantly. "We are not killing a child who did nothing wrong. We are better than that."

"Then what are you going to do with him, huh? Send him back to Kirigakure on his own? I definitely won't put my life on the line to escort that child back to our enemies. Where they can raise him to murder our people again in a few years. But maybe the woman actually spoke some truth and her clan is being hunted. Then they will cut him down as soon as they find him. It would be more merciful to grant him a quick end here."

They reached the Hokage office where the argument continued. Neither Akari nor Hiruzen were interested in killing a child. Yet Danzo had a point. There was nowhere for Orochimaru to go.

* * *

Akari was sitting in one of the interrogation rooms. At the other side of the table was the Tsuchinoko woman. Hiruzen had felt too emotional to talk to her. It was not a state he appreciated being in, yet he couldn't change it. Akari had offered to talk to her in his stead, to inform her of the decisions they had made. It took them hours of arguing to come to a conclusion. A conclusion on Orochimaru's fate.

"How did you do it?" Akari asked. Hiruzen and her could not find an answer. "How did you trick the Yamanaka's mind reading? They scanned your most recent memories when you arrived here. Yet there was no thought of revenge."

The woman calmly replied to her. "I didn't really trick anyone. I sealed part of my own memory away. Your shinobi could not detect a hint of revenge on my mind because there was none. Once the seal undid itself, I was myself again."

It irritated Akari that she made it sound so simple. "You've lived in our village for several weeks. You could have led a peaceful life here in Konoha with your son."

The woman smiled. There truly was no regret in her face. "The Hokage responsible for the attack on my village is already dead. And so is the man who killed my husband. I'd rather die knowing that they got what they deserved than live a peaceful life in my enemy's village."

"But why bring your son? He had nothing to do with all this. You shouldn't have involved him into all of this."

"What was I supposed to do? What I told you about Kirigakure was the truth. My clan is dead. I'd rather have him die here with me." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, yet she seemed content. Her eyes observed Akari, just like Akari's eyes observed her. "You seem surprised. Wouldn't you rather take your daughter to the grave with you than leave her alone in this world full of hate and suffering?"

"The world is not all bad. And there are people who would look after her in my stead."

"Not all bad, huh? Maybe not. Konoha sure seems to be doing alright. But so was Kirigakure. It only takes one night, one attack, and suddenly there are tailed beasts rampaging in your village. The world can shatter around you in just a second. Peace will never last. Orochimaru is a soft child." She smiled at the thought of her son. "I'd rather know his soul is untouchable in death. He will never suffer anymore."

Akari wondered about the irony. Danzo had wanted to kill the boy in front of her eyes. He'd wanted her to hurt as much as possible. But in the end, it was Hiruzen who brought her suffering by showing mercy. "Orochimaru will not die with you," Akari calmly explained. "Your son is not to blame for your actions."

The woman's face went blank for the first time. The fact that her enemies would show mercy to her child had never once occurred to her. "What are you talking about? Then what will you do with him?"

"He will grow up here in Konoha."

The Tsuchinoko woman's emotions quickly changed from shock and a hint of desperation to amusement. "You really think Orochimaru will just accept being raised by his parents' murderers? He's not stupid. You are going to regret this decision."

Akari wasn't quite sure whether the woman was genuine or trying to taunt them into killing him after all. She left her. Konoha owed her no explanations.

* * *

Hiruzen was still arguing with Danzo. They had made the decision to keep Orochimaru alive. Yet his mother obviously had to die. She was a murderer, a traitor. Danzo was keen on being the one to end her life. The thought alone brought him satisfaction.

"You will not kill her," Hiruzen sat down at his desk again. He brushed some papers away and poured himself some tea to calm his nerves.

"Why not? I'm your sword, am I not? So let me do my work."

"I can't. You cannot kill her. I have to do it myself."

"But why? I thought you were against revenge. And now you want to do it yourself? What hypocrisy!"

Hiruzen took a sip, but it barely helped. His eyes fell on his father's pipe. He ran his thumb over the smooth wood.

Hiruzen had never been much of a smoker, but maybe it would calm him down more than tea would. He lit it. "I want you to raise Orochimaru. So I cannot have you be responsible for the death of his mother."

For the first time, Danzo was struck speechless. "Raise him?" he stumbled, hoping to have misheard.

"Yes. I know this is a lot to ask, and I will not force you to agree. But I am asking you to raise him. He should not end up in an orphanage like a random civilian child. He is a Tsuchinoko. And more importantly, I don't want him to grow up detesting our whole village. I want him to grow up understanding that there are good people in Konoha as well."

"Have you lost your mind, Hiruzen? You cannot just ask me to adopt a child. A child from Kirigakure on top of that. I'm a shinobi, not a father."

"This is not an order. I'm asking you, Danzo. As a brother. My father chose to raise you when you'd lost everything. This boy has lost everything as well. Maybe you two would be able to bond on a deeper level, learn from each other."

"Your father also never killed my mother. Nor did my mother kill yours. This is completely different."

"I'm the Hokage. And right now, Orochimaru is officially part of our village. We have taken him in. I have taken him in. I'm responsible for this mess, and I am the one who has to fix this. I want this cycle of hate and revenge to end. Orochimaru might grow up despising me. But the next generation might also grow up to be better than us. I want to hold onto that hope, and I need your help with that, Danzo. I know we hardly agree these days, but I trust you."

Danzo shook his head. His face was still full of disbelief. "Do you plan to throw every orphan my way that we are coming across from now on? What am I, a babysitter? I'm not taking him. I don't want a child. What made you think I would be the right choice after I told you to kill him?"

Hiruzen took another puff from his father's pipe. Maybe it really did calm him down. "We all need to learn some forgiveness. It would make the world a better place."

"I don't need to forgive anyone." With these words, Danzo left, banging the door shut.

Akari entered Hiruzen's office shortly after.

"How did it go?" she carefully asked, though she could guess from the look on Danzo's face.

"He'll come round," Hiruzen answered.

"I can't say I agree with your decision." She sat down in front of the Hokage's desk, stretching her legs. It had been a long day. Hiruzen offered her a cup of tea.

"Danzo kept telling me that Madara betrayed us. Yet that doesn't change the fact that Konoha was built on forgiveness. We wouldn't be here had Madara not forgiven Tobirama-sensei for the death of his brother. I want to honour Konoha's roots." He put the pipe away again. It left a weird feeling in his lungs. He wasn't used to it. "What about your clan affairs, any development?"

"My grandfather still wants me back in the main family." Akari took a sip of tea. "Yet he refuses to give me any sort of power in the clan again. It's not exactly a secret that I dislike the concept of main and side branch. My brother is the less troublesome leader in his eyes."

Hiruzen smiled. His eyes were tired though. The last days had been long. "I used to admire you for your aspirations to change your clan's traditions. I'd be glad to see you in charge." There had always been a fine line that no Hokage dared crossing when it came to clan affairs. The Hokage ruled the village and clans, yet the clan heads still retained full control over their own family members. Especially the Hyuuga and Uchiha still stuck to their own traditions and believes with both hands and feet.

Akari shook her head. "Maybe it's better this way. Being your advisor is stressful enough." She sighed but laughed lightly to make sure he wouldn't take offense. "My brother will make a good leader eventually. I believe in him."

"You look tired. Maybe you should go home. I'm sure Chiyome would be happy if you came home earlier."

Akari was going to decline at first. It was obvious that there was even more pressure on Hiruzen, and she didn't want him to deal with it alone. But after he reassured her that there was not much left to do for the day, she concluded that maybe time alone would do him good too.

* * *

That day, Akari arrived home earlier than she usually did, yet Chiyome was already back from the Academy. On her way to her daughter's room, Akari wondered whether they should go out. Maybe have some dinner at Chiyome's favourite place. She sure was exhausted, but she had not seen much of her daughter lately.

Chiyome was sitting on her bed. She wasn't reading or drawing, just sat there with her arms wrapped around her legs. "What are you doing here?" she asked when she saw her mother enter. There was less enthusiasm than her mother had expected.

"I finished work early. Are you not feeling well?" Akari asked and sat down next to her daughter.

"I don't want you to call me Chiyome anymore!" the girl announced with the biggest frown on her face she could manage. "I'm Chiyo-chan!"

Her mother only smiled. "Haven't we talked about this before?"

"I don't want to be Chiyome. I don't want my father's name. I don't like him." She grabbed the blanket and pulled it over her head to hide. "I'm Chiyo-chan."

Akari's smile vanished. "Chiyome, please. It's your name and I will not call you anything else."

"Leave me alone," the girl complained when her mother tried to take the blanket away. "My father is never here. He doesn't like me or he would be here. So I don't want his name. I'm Chiyo-chan."

Akari let go of the blanket again, seeing how her attempt were futile. She tried words instead. "Look at me when we are speaking, please."

It took a moment, and Chiyome did indeed kick the blanket away, but only to yell at her mother. "I hate him, I don't want that name!"

Akari rose from the bed. "You will _not_ say that again, do you hear me?"

Chiyome didn't understand. She didn't understand how her mother wasn't on her side. But it made her angry. " _I hate him,"_ she repeated, this time more out of spite than anything else. The look on her mother's face satisfied her. Those three words were clearly very impactful. Though what the impact truly was, was something Chiyome hadn't quite figured out yet.

Akari's hand twitched as a wave of anger came over her. She clenched her fist in an attempt to control herself. This anger she felt wasn't directed at her daughter. It was directed at herself.

There was a moment of silence between them as thought after thought ran through Akari's mind on how to fix this.

Eventually, she asked, "Do you want me to take you to your father?" The words passed her lips almost unconsciously.

Akari had sworn to take this secret to the grave with her. But maybe it didn't matter anymore.

Chiyome stared at her mother with big eyes. The offer had come as a surprise to her too. She stayed quiet, fearing that this was some sort of trick question, that her mother would abandon her if she agreed.

Still, she nodded.

"Fine, then go fix your hair. It's a mess. We are going out." With those words, Akari left her daughter's room.

Chiyome stared after her, unsure what was going to happen now. She looked at her bracelet, the one her father had given her. She wore it every day. A few moments ago, she'd been close to ripping it off. But now she was glad she didn't. She wanted to meet him.

Akari was on her way back to her room. She was craving just a few moments of peace and quiet to collect herself. She met one of her cousins, Fuso, on the way, a girl around her age. Akari was set on sending her away for now, but there was too much distress and pain on the girl's face as she pleaded for a moment of Akari's time.

So Akari listened to her request.

* * *

"I'm of the side branch just like you. If my brother does not allow it, there is nothing I can do. I'm sorry." Akari wanted to move on, but Fuso stopped her.

"Please, Lady Akari. I'm begging you. Just ask him to reconsider. This would mean the world to me. He is in the gardens right now. I just talked to him." Akari was still unsure, so her cousin continued. "This is not just about our clan. This is about Konoha too. You are the Hokage's advisor, this ought to concern you. Please, just ask him to reconsider. He might listen to you."

Her cousin bowed low. Akari couldn't bring herself to refuse her.

Their conversation had taken so long that Chiyome already came running at her mother again, wearing her favourite dress. Akari checked the time. There was still time left before the sun would set.

She kneeled next to her daughter. "Why don't you go and pick some flowers for him? For grandfather too, alright? I need to talk to uncle Haruto before we go." Putting her index finger in front of her lips, she continued, "This is our secret for now."

Chiyome nodded and ran off to the gardens too.

Akari and her cousin followed in the same direction to find Haruto. The gardens attached to the Hyuuga's main building were vast and beautiful, filled with cherry trees, red acorns and a few small ponds. Haruto was sitting on a bench, a pile of scrolls lay next to him. He was looking at one of them with a pained look on his face.

As soon as they spotted him, Akari's cousin backed off out of sight.

"Could we talk for a moment?"

He raised a brow at her. His sister rarely ever came to talk to him, and part of him already knew what this was about. He nodded.

"Fuso just talked to me." She stopped to see his reaction. Immediately, annoyance filled his face.

"Sister, this is none of your business." He put the scroll away and took a new one, studying it with great care to give the impression he was too busy after all.

"I know it's not. But I do want to talk about it. She is from the side branch. She is allowed to marry outside, why forbid her?"

Her brother's brows dropped. "Not to an _Uchiha._ "

"They are one of Konoha's clans. We are a family. It throws shades at our clan if you refuse to approve this marriage."

"You know the reasons well enough, Akari. They have the Sharingan, we have the Byakugan. Our bloodlines are not meant to be mixed. This is not about Konoha at all."

"How do you know that? It's not like anyone ever tried. It is the main family's duty to keep the bloodline pure, not the side branch's."

"And what happens if more and more of the branch member lose their bloodline? How are we supposed to keep it pure then? She will _not_ marry an Uchiha. I've made my decision."

"Please, brother. Don't continue these foolish customs. You are our head now, you can change them."

Haruto put the scroll away and rose. He was almost a whole head taller than his sister, yet he'd always felt tiny next to her. "Foolish? These are our traditions. They have protected our clan all these years and you are calling them foolish?"

She bit her lip. "You are supposed to step forward, not backward. This marriage will foster the relations between our clans. It is only going to make Konoha stronger. I'm sure even father would –"

"Don't talk to me about father!" he yelled at her. "Father is dead."

Akari wanted to hush him down. She realised the gardens weren't the most optimal place for such a conversation. But she'd been too tired to give the setup much thought.

"I am the clan's head now, do you understand that?" Haruto talked quieter again, but the anger in his face remained. "I make the decisions. I couldn't care less that you are the Hokage's advisor. This clan, I rule."

Akari had to swallow down the words that were already on the tip of her tongue. Her brother wasn't wrong. Yet his attitude pained Akari. It angered her. "I'm simply giving my opinion. All I'm asking you is to reconsider."

Her brother scoffed. "Your opinion stopped mattering when you let some loser get you with child. It's not my fault you acted like a whore."

Akari's heart sank, and her hand moved on its own. She slapped it across her brother's face.

The two siblings stared at each other in disbelief, both shocked by what had just happened.

"You…" Haruto's face hardened. "You don't get to disrespect me like this!"

A sudden pain spread in Akari's head. She pressed her hands to her trembles, but the pain only grew stronger. It felt like a blade was cutting into her brain, twisting left and right. Her vision blurred and the pain forced her to her knees.

"Stop it, Haruto," she winced. Her head was throbbing. " _Please."_

"Mama?" With Chiyome's voice came salvation. Suddenly, most of the pain was gone again as fast as it had appeared. A dull feeling was all that remained.

The little girl stood a bit further away, flowers in her hands.

Haruto could meet neither of their eyes. He looked away. "Just stay out of this," he said before leaving.

"Are you hurt?" Chiyome slowly approached her mother.

Akari pushed herself up again, one hand still massaging her trembles. She couldn't believe her brother had used the seal to make a point. It added yet another worry to her list. Still, she managed to throw a short smile in her daughter's direction. She didn't want her to worry.

* * *

Chiyome quietly followed her mother down the forest path towards Konoha. Her heart was beating fast, and her cheeks were red from excitement. She didn't know where they were going, her mother hadn't told her.

Walking down the streets of Konoha, they met Riku and Sakumo. The two were standing in front of a barbecue shop, looking at the menu. Riku asked whether they wanted to join them for dinner, but Akari politely declined. His eyes fell on Chiyome.

"You are looking very cute today, Chiyo-chan. Where are you two going?"

Chiyome had already opened her mouth when she closed it again, remembering that this was supposed to be a secret.

"To the cemetery," her mother answered for her. Her hand wandered to her trembles again and she closed her eyes for just a moment.

"Are you alright?" Riku asked, noticing the gesture.

Akari smiled. "Yes, I'm just tired. All that's going on these days is giving me a headache."

Riku nodded. "Anyways, say hi to Inori for me. Maybe Sakumo and I will join you once we had dinner."

"I will," Akari said, and they said their goodbyes.

The sun was setting at the horizon by the time they arrived at the cemetery, though there was still enough light left to clearly see all the graves.

"I'll go to Inori's grave first, okay? You can go ahead and bring your grandfather the flowers you picked for him."

Chiyome looked around at the many gravestones. She understood the implications of this place. "Is papa here too?"

Her mother nodded.

She looked at the flowers in her hands. This wasn't the worst of all things, she thought. Instead of feeling sad, she felt hopeful. "If he wasn't dead, he would be with me, right? He wouldn't be away all the time. He would visit us and teach me ninjutsu and shuriken throwing, right? All fathers do that."

The silence that followed crushed Chiyome's hoped again. She wanted it to be true.

Her mother eventually nodded, but it was already too late.

Chiyome quietly left her mother at the Uchiha graves and walked over to her grandfather's. It was the biggest of the Hyuuga graves and easy to spot. On her way, she glanced at all the names of the people she passed. Most of them were strangers to her. But the little girl wondered if one of them could be her father.

She put down some of the flowers for her grandfather, but the nicest ones she kept. Next she said a short prayer since that was what you were supposed to do. She didn't really know what to tell him, so she told him about her progress at the Academy and the ninjutsu she could use. It had been his favourite topic.

When Chiyome thought she'd talked to her grandfather enough, she turned back into the direction of Inori's grave, of her mother, eager to see if it was finally time.

But her mother was nowhere to be seen.

The sudden feeling of being lost spread in her, the one a child felt when they had lost sight of their mother on a busy marketplace.

She wondered if her mother had gone to her father's grave without her.

Chiyome remained calm and walked back to where she'd last seen her, then went to Inori's grave. She found her mother there, lying on the ground.

She wasn't moving.

Chiyome immediately knew there was something wrong, but she couldn't quite tell what exactly it was. There was no reason for her mother to lie in the dirt with a nice and tidy dress. But her body was perfectly still. It didn't look like she was hurt or in pain.

"Mama?" Chiyome kneeled next to her. There was no response, so she took her mother's hand to get her attention. Again, there was no response.

"Mama, wake up."

If it had been her uncle Riku, Chiyome would have been sure this was some mean prank. Riku would often pretend to be asleep just to scare her a moment later. But her mother wasn't fond of jokes. Her mother never joked.

She softly shook her mother's shoulder. There was no response.

In the Academy, Chiyome had been taught about first aid. Something told her she was supposed to check her mother's breathing and pulse, to put her into a different position. But the thought seemed too ridiculous to her. She couldn't do that with her mother. Her mother couldn't need this.

Akari still neither responded nor moved. Chiyome looked around in hope to find anyone nearby, but the cemetery was completely empty.

She waited another moment, but nothing changed. Her mother didn't wake up.

The little girl wanted someone to help her, to check on her mother. So she ran back to Konoha's village centre hoping Riku and Sakumo were still at the barbecue place.

She was out of breath when she arrived at the restaurant despite it not being too far away.

Riku and Sakumo were still sitting at one of the tables. Their first order had just arrived.

"Chiyome?" Riku looked at her in confusion when he spotted her. "Did you forget something?"

"I think mama is hurt."

Riku put down the chopsticks. "What do you mean she's hurt? What happened?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. She doesn't wake up."

Riku immediately rose and told his son to remain at the restaurant. He picked up Chiyome and with his speed, they were back at the cemetery even faster.

Akari was still lying in front of Inori's grave, unchanged.

Chiyome watched as Riku kneeled next to her and turned her on her back. She watched as he called out to her, as he checked her breathing. Silently, without saying a word or moving a muscle, she watched as Riku started chest compressions.

Chiyome watched, and watched. Riku kept pumping her mother's heart.

"Chiyome," he eventually said. "I want you to go back to Sakumo. Wait there for me, okay? I'll take your mom to the hospital."

Chiyome looked at him. He wasn't looking at her. He was still focused on Akari, doing chest compression after chest compression.

The little girl nodded and slowly turned away. She didn't run back to the barbecue restaurant. Her steps felt heavy. The world around her felt wrong.

"Did something happen? Where's my dad?"

She only realised she'd reached the restaurant when Sakumo spoke to her. She sat down next to him.

"I think my mama just died." Her saying the words out loud did not make them sound any more believable. She had to be wrong. Mothers didn't die. Her mother couldn't die.

Sakumo didn't say anything, only slid the plate with his dessert over to her. Obviously sweets weren't going to bring back the dead. But sweets always made his friends happy. And it was all he had to offer.

* * *

Chiyome was wrapped in Riku's arms. He pressed her close to his chest, so tight she couldn't move or look around. It had been like that for a while now. Chiyome didn't like it. She didn't need anyone to console her. She was strong.

But the girl wasn't quite sure whether Riku was crying or not – whether he was the one who needed consolation. So she quietly endured it until he let go of her again.

They were sitting in the hospital waiting room. Sakumo had gone home. His father made him. The Hokage was present too and was close-by talking to one of the doctors. Chiyome knew they were waiting for them to finish examining her mother. They were waiting so they could say goodbye to her.

Chiyome wanted to go home. Saying goodbye to a dead person was of no use. They were dead. Her mama was dead.

Her uncle came, together with her grand-grandfather and some other family members of the Hyuuga clan. He briefly looked at his little niece before approaching the Hokage.

Chiyome's head sank.

"Why did mama die?" she eventually asked. She had heard some of the doctors speculating. One of them suspected it to be poison, an attack by Kirigakure.

"We don't know yet," Riku answered, again wrapping his arm around the little girl's shoulder to draw her closer. "But we will find out."

This time, Chiyome resisted and pulled away from him. "Uncle Haruto didn't hurt her though, right?"

"What do you mean?" Riku was visibly confused, but also wary. "Why would he hurt her?"

"He made her head hurt earlier when they had a fight."

Riku straightened himself before leaning closer to the girl, making sure people around them would not overhear their conversation. "What exactly did he do? Tell me."

The look on Riku's face irritated her. All of a sudden, Chiyome could feel that this was nothing she was supposed to talk about. She could feel this would cause problems. She looked away, but Riku repeated his question.

"I only saw them fighting, and then mama's head hurt. I think he…" She glanced at her uncle. "I think he used the seal somehow." She pointed to her own forehead. The caged-bird seal was still hidden beneath her bangs.

Riku's face went blank.

"But, I'm not really sure. I was picking flowers," Chiyome quickly added when she saw the impact her words had on the man. He was upset and that she didn't want.

Yet Riku's mind was already made up. He rose and stomped over to the Hokage and Hyuuga, to Haruto.

Chiyome wanted to go after him, but stopped when she saw him yell at her uncle. They were getting into a fight. Riku grabbed his collar and started punching her uncle straight in the face.

The little girl froze as she watched the fight before her. Several people immediately threw themselves at Riku to pull him away from her uncle while he was yelling and shouting. Riku blamed her uncle for her mother's death.

She slowly approached with lowered shoulders. This wasn't what she'd wanted.

Riku freed himself again. "I'll take Chiyome with me!"

He grabbed her hand, but immediately, her mother's grandfather stood in his way, stopping him.

"She is our child. You cannot just take her. The girl will stay with us."

Riku tried to walk past him, but did not dare pushing the old man aside when he continued to keep him from leaving. "You never cared about her. I won't leave her with someone like you."

The former head of the Hyuuga only looked at the young Hokage. Calmly he said, "She is my granddaughter's child. This man cannot just take one of our clan's children away."

Hiruzen nodded. Riku engaged in another argument with him, but it proved futile. Haruto and the rest of the Hyuuga left with Chiyome.

* * *

Chiyome was sitting in front of a conference room in the Hokage building. She was alone. Some friends of her mother had stopped by every now and then, but they all left again once they realised the girl wasn't in the mood to talk.

Inside the conference room, a heated argument was taking place. Chiyome had not been allowed to enter, but she could hear every word loud and clearly. They were arguing because of her – over her. Riku was the one yelling the most.

" _He killed her,"_ was one of the sentences he kept repeating. "He killed her and you want to give Chiyome to him."

The girl quietly listened. A doctor had said her mother's death was an accident. Her brain had been bleeding, but Chiyome never saw any blood. She couldn't make sense out of it. Apparently neither could the adults.

The door eventually opened. Riku came out first, closely followed by the Hokage and her grand-grandfather.

"Again, I highly regret that it has come to this unfortunate incident," her mother's grandfather said. "Akari was a very talented member of our main family. It is a great loss for our clan. As the medic-nin have said, we cannot say for certain that her death was caused by our seal. But obviously we will look into this more to ensure the safety of our side-branch."

Riku scoffed.

Her uncle Haruto was the last to leave the room. He wore his shoulders and head low, and hadn't talked to Chiyome once since the incident, couldn't even look at her.

Riku came over to her, but it seemed he too had a hard time to look at the little girl. His face was full of anger and frustration, and it left him restless.

Chiyome didn't get up. She didn't know where she was supposed to go, whom she was supposed to hang onto. She wanted her mother back. She wanted everyone to stop fighting.

Her grand-grandfather was shaking the Hokage's hand. It seemed their meeting was over.

"Chiyome."

The girl turned towards her uncle. She hadn't expected him to talk to her.

"Would you like to live with Riku?"

"Haruto!" her grand-grandfather immediately snapped at him. "What are you doing asking her such questions? We have made our decision."

"You have made a decision. I have not," Haruto calmly said, but he didn't look at his grandfather. "I'd like to hear what Chiyome wants. If she does not want to live at the Hyuuga compound anymore, I will respect that. So Chiyome, would you rather go with Riku? You can stay with him and Sakumo if you want."

Chiyome didn't understand. The tension all around her irritated her.

"I just want to go home," she muttered. She got up from the floor and carefully took her uncle's hand. Part of her was scared he didn't like her anymore. "Please, let's just go home and stop fighting."

"Chiyome!" Riku was ready to sway her.

Haruto stopped him. "Believe me when I say that I am awfully sorry about what happened."

"Don't apologise. You did nothing wrong!" his grandfather interrupted, but Haruto ignored him.

"Let's have this conversation some other time. When he all calmed down." He squeezed Chiyome's hand, forced himself to look at her. Her big sad eyes hurt his heart. "Let's go home."

* * *

That night, Chiyome was sleeping in her mother's bed. The pillow still carried her mother's scent – everything in her room did. When Chiyome closed her eyes, it was as though her world was not broken, like her mother was still present.

She lay awake, unable to go to sleep. She wondered where her mother now was, whether she was with her father. It seemed unfair to her that they both left her behind.

The moon shone through the open garden door. A gentle breeze cooled down the air inside the room.

Chiyome's eyes were fixed on the poem hanging on the wall. It looked almost magical with the moonlight shining on it. She fell asleep reading it. In her dream, it was a secret spell. In her dream, she just had to read it often enough so it fulfilled her wish. In her dream, the poem brought her mother back to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Ah, here we finally are. I never imagined this story would become this big word-count-wise. The end of this chapter marks sort of a "cut" in the story, a bit like Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden. When I planned out the plot, I looked at the events that took place in canon, like Madara betraying Konoha and the Shinobi wars, and since there is a pretty big time of peace up ahead, there really isn't much happening, so expect a short time-skip for the next chapter :)
> 
> Also I think Akari became one of my favourite OCs, so I'm pretty sad over here. But oh well, guess I gotta write a story about her life before this story takes place once I got more time again.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys are all doing fine and enjoyed the fanfic so far!


	10. Year 10

Chiyome was standing in front of her mother's grave, surrounded by butterflies. They flew around her head. The girl let them fly higher, until they dissolved and came raining down at her and the gravestone like a gentle summer rain.

"Aren't they beautiful, mama? I can finally have them all fly at once, and in different directions too!" She was quiet for a moment, almost like she was waiting for an answer. There was none, so she continued, "Soon we will take our final exams. If I pass, I'm made a Genin. But you don't need to worry. I've got straight A's on all my previous tests. Last week the teacher even said I was the smartest in class." She spoke with excitement, but then fell quiet again. The smile on her face vanished. "The teacher said we are having a big celebration after the exams. All parents are invited."

She formed another butterfly in her hand, but used too much chakra and it dissolved before she had it finished.

"Uncle Riku and Uncle Haruto both said they'll come. They never talk to each other anymore, but they wanted to see me graduate." She reorganised the flowers lying in front of her mother's grave and cleaned the gravestone. She wanted it to look nice. Her mother always did the same for Inori's grave, and for her grandfather too.

When Chiyome left the cemetery again, she met Sakumo in the village. He was with his teammates, Akemi Inuzuka and Shoei Aburame. The girl had a dog with her, a ninja dog. The Inuzuka were rarely ever seen without their companions nearby. The boy always ran around with insects crawling all over him.

"I thought you were on a mission," Chiyome said. She hadn't seen much of Sakumo since he'd become a Genin. And now he was away more and more often as his team took on more missions. They were almost at the end of their first Genin year. Chiyome wanted to be like that too. She wanted to go on missions with Sakumo. But when Chiyome was finally close to becoming a Genin, Sakumo had his eyes already set on becoming a Chuunin.

"We came back today, a bit earlier than expected, and were just on our way to get some dinner. Do you want to come?"

Chiyome already nodded when she remembered her uncle's words. Haruto's wife had given birth to twins a few days ago, and they were having a big celebration dinner tonight. Chiyome couldn't be late for that. After all, the older twin was the new heir of the Hyuuga clan. It was a big deal for her family.

"Can we go tomorrow?" she asked.

"Sorry, we are going on a training trip again tomorrow."

"We'll participate at the Chuunin exams soon and sensei wants to make sure we are ready," Akemi added with a smile on her face.

Chiyome felt sad when she continued walking down the streets alone. She missed Sakumo. He was her best friend, yet she wasn't quite sure anymore whether she was still his best friend as well. Riku always told her that she would soon make friends with her new team, that your team was special. Chiyome doubted that. She didn't like anyone in her class more than Sakumo.

Different scents hung in the air as she crossed the market. Most stalls were already closing up. Yet she could still smell the sweet scent of melted chocolate and boiling tea. Next came the smell of fish.

Chiyome spotted her classmate, Jiraiya. He was standing behind one of the stalls, buckets full of fish around him. Three other boys from her class stood in front of him. But they were no customers.

"Selling stinky fish fits you so much better than being a shinobi." Her classmate was laughing.

Another quickly joined in and pointed at the notes Jiraiya had left lying open on a barrel. They were from the Academy, filled with information on the history of noble clans and ninja techniques. "You are just going to fail again. These notes are no good." He grabbed them. Jiraiya tried to get them back. The notes fell down, most of them landing in a bucket full of fish and water.

The others laughed. "That's where they belong. Just like you!" With those words, they left.

Chiyome slowly approached Jiraiya as he picked up his notes. The writing was barely visible anymore.

"What do you want here?" he snapped at her. It irritated Chiyome. She never talked to him at the Academy because that was the tone he always used with her.

She looked at the soaked paper. "Do you want my notes? I can lend them to you and you can copy them," she offered anyways. Chiyome's life at the Academy had become better after Jiraiya joined their class. He was the new center of attention. Picking fights with Jiraiya was more fun for her classmates, because unlike Chiyome, Jiraiya would always fight back.

He looked at her from head to toe. Her white hair was neatly tied and held together by flower clips. She wore a dress of fine silk. To Jiraiya, who wore torn pants and a shabby shirt, the girl looked like a princess.

"I don't need your notes."

Chiyome stared at the notes in his hands. Water dripped down. "Are you sure?" She picked up a piece of paper Jiraiya had missed. It was full of scribbles with a note or two in between of the jutsu they had studied at the Academy. The spelling was completely wrong. "Maybe you should be at home studying or you won't pass the final exam."

It was no secret that Jiraiya failed almost every test at the Academy.

Her classmate grabbed the paper away from her. "Well, some people need to make a living. But not that you'd know anything about that."

The girl really didn't know anything about that. "Is your father not working?"

Jiraiya looked down at her again. "Someone like you wouldn't understand." The words seemed to hit her harder than he'd expected, though he wasn't going to feel sorry for a spoiled princess.

Chiyome wanted to be nice to Jiraiya. She could see that he was like her in a way, that he needed someone.

"So you work here every day and that's why you don't study for the tests?" she carefully asked after some consideration.

He got defensive at first, anticipating her to make fun of him. But there was no sign of ill-will in her eyes. So he simply shrugged as an answer.

Chiyome considered again. This time she pressed a finger onto her lips, thinking hard. She wanted to do something nice. Her mother had always been nice, people told her. "What if I sell the fish for you? Then you can study."

This time, Jiraiya wasn't sure whether she wasn't mocking him after all. " _You?_ You want to sell fish in those clothes?" he laughed her comment off, still unsure whether it was truly genuine.

"Can I not?" A frown formed on Chiyome's face as she looked down at herself. She definitely didn't want to get her dress dirty. Her mother would scold her for dirty clothes. But she did want to help.

Jiraiya became more and more irritated. He was still waiting for a nasty comment. It never came. Slowly he remembered that Chiyome had never said anything hurtful to him, at least not directly. But he'd thought that was the case because he stayed away from her. They barely ever talked.

Yet here she was, standing in front of him, still trying to figure out how to help him with the fish.

"Don't you have to be at home or something?" he asked, mostly to give her an easy way out.

"Oh, right! Actually, I do. But I still have a bit of time left. Do you want me to help you pack up? All the stalls are closing. I can put the fish back into the bucket." Chiyome had carefully observed the little stall and the way it was organised. She saw the fish that lay on display and she saw the buckets with the corresponding fish in it. So she grabbed a rainbow trout that was on display for customers, ready to put it back where it came from. It was slimier than she'd excepted, and instantly slipped away. The fish flew right into the arms of Jiraiya instead.

"I'm so sorry!" Chiyome blurted out, still somewhat shocked at how slippery fish were. It was the first time she'd touched one.

Jiraiya forced himself to sigh with annoyance but he couldn't quite hold back a small smile. "You'll just end up causing me more trouble, so just stay back."

Her head dropped, and a sad pout formed on her lips. The sight caused feelings of guilt in Jiraiya, who suddenly felt like he'd stolen a mochi away from a little child.

"But, you know, maybe I'll take those notes of yours if you really want to help me out so badly." He wasn't quite sure why he changed his mind. He didn't like the girl. He didn't like how she looked and who she was. But somehow, he preferred the smile that was now on her lips again over the sad pout.

Chiyome promised to bring him her notes tomorrow.

* * *

The next day, Chiyome left breakfast with her uncle and aunt early. She wanted to bring Jiraiya the notes so he could start studying right away. Her aunt scolded her for bad table manners when she didn't wait for the two to finish, but her uncle said it was alright. So Chiyome ran back to the marketplace again.

Jiraiya was already standing behind his stall, yelling the same lines at the passing people over and over. His eyes widened when he spotted his classmate. Somehow he hadn't expected her to come. And he definitely hadn't expected her to show up early in the morning.

"Make sure they don't fall into the fish bucket," she said as she handed him her two notebooks. "Look at me. I'm wearing my training clothes. The _worst_ I could find. They are old and all and it's not so bad if they get dirty," she proudly told him. Then, full of excitement, she asked, "So I can help you sell the fish, right?"

"Why do you want to help me sell these stupid fish? What's in there for you?"

She stared back at him with big eyes. "I just want to help you pass the final exams. We are classmates, right? So we should help each other, I think."

He glanced away from her with a look that said he wasn't convinced. Her words still made him happy, but he would never admit that.

"Well, you do look better today. Less like a princess."

"You think I looked like a princess yesterday?" A bright smile appeared on Chiyome's face.

"What? Yes, you always do," Jiraiya said, irritated how she thought he had complimented her right now. The girl was still happy and pleased about his words, so he added, "But that's not a good thing. Princesses are stupid."

"They are not!" she protested. "My mama was a princess and she wasn't stupid at all."

"Whatever." He turned back to the fish. An awkward silence hung between them once again. Chiyome looked at him displeased, yet she didn't leave. Jiraiya didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to shoo her off or make her stay.

Tsunade was walking over the marketplace with her mother when she spotted her classmates. She left her mother without saying a word.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked. She was usually a cheerful girl, but today, there was not even a hint of a smile on her face.

Jiraiya grunted, intentionally loud enough so the two girls would hear he was displeased by their presence. He didn't know how he managed to gather the two classmates that belonged to the main family of royal clans around him. Not after he repeatedly made it clear that he couldn't stand stupid shinobi clans.

"I'm helping Jiraiya pass the final exams," Chiyome said. "Or at least I'm trying to be of help. I wanted to sell the fish for him so he could study."

Tsunade looked at all the fish, then at Chiyome, and at the fish again. She stared at the two as though they were crazy, until her mother came over, telling Tsunade that they still had somewhere to be, and she shouldn't just run off.

"I can't go. I'm helping my friend study," Tsunade replied, and happily walked around the stall to stand next to Jiraiya.

Her mother was displeased, and told her she could do that after their date, but Tsunade literally put her foot down and said she wasn't going anywhere.

"You can go alone. I'm not going! I'll never go!" She was yelling, so loud Chiyome and Jiraiya exchanged irritated looks.

Her mother looked sad, but left without her daughter.

"What was that all about?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade grabbed one of the notebooks and sat down on an empty wooden box. "I don't want to talk about it." She started reading Chiyome's notes. "So what were you studying? History of Konoha? Chakra theory? Maths?"

"Are you serious? Get lost. I don't need your help!"

"Oh, are you sure? I saw your last test score. I think you need all the help you can get. Besides, Chiyome is helping too, isn't she?"

Jiraiya grunted again, but stopped complaining. He didn't even say anything when Chiyome stepped next to him and started calling out the same lines at passing people she had heard him use earlier, motivating them to buy some fish.

The next day, the three met again, and the day after. They met every day until the day of their final exams had come. And for the first time, Jiraiya passed.

* * *

Chiyome was sitting in front of her mother's dressing table. Carefully she applied lipstick she'd found in a drawer. It had a deep red colour. Special occasions required a special look. She nodded to herself, then grabbed the kohl.

When Chiyome entered the living room soon after to find her uncle, he was sitting at a table with his wife. Each of them had a little baby in their arms, Chiyome's new cousins. There was a soft smile on Haruto's face as he looked down at his son. It wasn't something Chiyome saw often.

When he turned towards his niece, his expression changed, and he stared at her like he was seeing a ghost. "Chiyome, what are you… what happened to your face?"

"I wanted to be pretty, for the examination ceremony," the girl explained with childish innocence.

"You are a bit too young for that, don't you think?" He forced a laugh.

Haruto's wife quietly rocked her baby. There was no seal on her forehead, not anymore. Marrying into the main family was the one way for a side branch member to escape their fate. She didn't look at her husband's niece. She barely ever did. Their relationship was of a complicated nature, because Chiyome was a bastard, and not even her husband's bastard, yet Haruto treated her with more care than any child could ever hope to receive from their father.

The Hyuuga's head rose and gave his son to someone from the side branch. "Oh dear, I'm not sure I know much about make-up. But let's see if we can turn you into the prettiest girl tonight."

"Why don't you let Fuso handle Chiyome? You've barely had time to spend with Hiashi and Hizashi today," his wife intervened before they could leave the room.

Haruto agreed, and it was Fuso who accompanied Chiyome back to her room, Akari's room. Anything that was once her mother's now belonged to Chiyome. The girl hadn't changed anything. The same pictures hung on the walls, the same poem. The furniture was the same, Akari's clothes were still in the closet, shelves were filled with books and scrolls that Akari had selected. Chiyome had wanted to keep it all, and her uncle had allowed her.

"Are you getting married soon too, aunt Fuso? I heard uncle Haruto say you should," Chiyome asked as Fuso was cleaning the girl's face.

Fuso cringed at the question, but answered that she would. Chiyome was oblivious to all the facial hints of nervousness and discomfort that were on her face. Fuso did her best to avoid Chiyome ever since her mother died. The girl never understood why.

After a short while, Chiyome's face looked like that of an actual child again, and Fuso tried her best to tell her she looked beautiful before quickly leaving again. Happily, Chiyome went back to her uncle to have him accompany her to the examination ceremony in her parents' stead.

* * *

To Chiyome's delight, Riku was already waiting for them in front of the Academy and had brought Sakumo with him. Haruto and Riku didn't greet each other. But Chiyome was used to it. It had been like that ever since her mother died.

There was a short ceremony. The Hokage held a speech and distributed the Konoha headbands to all the graduates, Konoha's new Genin. After that, everyone met in the backyard of the Academy for cake and coffee. Little groups of parents bragging about their children and of children guessing who their sensei would be soon formed.

Chiyome kept close to Sakumo. Both Haruto and Riku vanished into different directions to talk to different people.

She spotted Jiraiya, who was sitting on a bench further away from everyone else. Alone.

"Can you wait here for a moment?" she asked Sakumo. "I want to congratulate Jiraiya for passing the exams."

Sakumo nodded, and Chiyome hurried over to her now former classmate.

"Is your father not here?" She looked around and realised the man she had met a few years prior was nowhere to be seen. She still remembered the hair that was as white as Jiraiya's own hair.

Jiraiya only shrugged. "He doesn't really care whether I'm a shinobi or not." His eyes fell on Haruto, who was talking to parents from the Nara and Yamanaka clan. "Shouldn't you be with your uncle? You don't have to hang out with me out of pity."

She sat down next to him, reassuring him that she wasn't pitying him. But it barely helped to cheer Jiraiya up. He was still staring at Chiyome's uncle, the head of the Hyuuga clan. Wherever he went, people immediately involved him in the conversation.

"I joined the Academy because I thought shinobi were super cool. But then I realised it was mostly just arrogant children of some stuck-up clan members." He glanced at Chiyome, at the hair that was again perfectly done, the dress that was embroidered with blue and violet butterflies. No matter how many fish he sold, he would never be able to afford such a dress. Not that he wanted one. But the same applied to ninja skills as well. All the clans taught their children jutsu and bought them special weapons. Jiraiya had none of that.

"I wanted to become a great shinobi. Shinobi are respected. But I ended up dead last on the exams despite studying all day long. And repeating the class. I passed, but I don't think I can compete with anyone here. I'm sure the Hokage will put me on some loser team. I'll be a shinobi, but a failure of a shinobi."

"My mama always said that if you want to learn something, you need to put in a lot of effort and work, and if you want to master something, you need to put in even more effort and work."

Jiraiya only snorted. "That's easy for you to say. You have a clan to support and teach you."

The girl shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "My clan doesn't teach me much. I guess most of the things I taught myself. Sakumo helped a lot too. And uncle Riku. But they are not my clan."

"Then maybe you just had super smart parents. My father can barely tell a bottle from a vase on most days."

Chiyome was quiet for a moment. Jiraiya didn't look at her. He was too occupied with his own sulking to realise that the girl's eyes had become sad.

"My mother was, I guess," she eventually said.

"And your dad?"

She tangled her feet back and forth. They hung in the air as she was still too small to reach the ground. "How would I know? I'm a bastard, remember?" She brushed her bangs aside to show Jiraiya the seal, then quickly made sure it was neatly covered up again.

Before Jiraiya could say anything, some of their classmates stopped in front of them.

"Look, Chiyome finally found her place as well. Have you seen her sell fish all week long? She always dresses up like she is someone important, but actually, she's just a dirty fish seller like Jiraiya."

The others laughed, and added, "You know, my parents always said that Jiraiya's dad was also Chiyome's dad. It all makes sense now. They are both reeking of fish."

Jiraiya rose. His hands were already pressed into fists. One of them was about to find the face of the boy standing closest to them, when Chiyome grabbed his hand.

"Just let them talk."

He reluctantly sat down again.

Tsunade came over, and, just like she had always done in the Academy, started scolding them for picking on Jiraiya again.

But this time, her classmates didn't apologise nor did they back away. Instead, they turned to Tsunade. One of them pointed his finger at her.

"Did you know? Tsunade's mother is seeing a woodcutter. Soon they'll be married and she'll no longer be the Senju princess but a lowborn civilian."

Tsunade didn't say anything, but her facial features turned more fierce. Her classmates continued.

"The Senju aren't as great anymore as they used to be. They took the title of clan head from her mother because she's only a civilian. Now the Senju clan belongs to one of Lord Hashirama's distant cousins. And guess what, he's not strong at all! My dad said he can't even use a combined nature transformation."

The others gasped in surprise, acting as though combined nature transformation was a basic skill they learned at the Academy.

"Well, I guess now that Tsunade's not a princess anymore, we don't need to be nice to her."

They laughed. Tsunade pressed her lips and fists together. The laughing died down when she was suddenly on top of one of her classmates. Her fist connected with his cheek.

A fight came about and Tsunade was in the middle of it, dealing out more blows than she absorbed.

"Hey, you don't hit girls!" Jiraiya yelled. It was good enough of a reason for him to join the brawl. He'd wanted to beat them up anyways, and now that Tsunade had taken the initiative, he was more than happy to participate.

All eyes were instantly on the Genin wrestling on the ground. They pulled each other's hair, scratched, punched.

Chiyome was overwhelmed at first, then decided to try and stop them. She stepped closer, reached for either Tsunade or Jiraiya, told them not to fight.

No one paid any attention to her. Instead, a random elbow found Chiyome's nose.

Adults hurried over, stopped the fight.

Haruto and Riku both kneeled next to Chiyome to make sure she was fine. Her nose was bleeding.

Her uncle wanted to take her to the hospital right away, make sure it wasn't fractured. Riku laughed at him, saying that children got bruised every now and then and a bleeding nose was nothing special. They kept arguing with each other as Chiyome sat between them, still covering her bleeding nose. Sakumo got a tissue for her.

Tsunade's mother scolded her for starting a fight. A man stood next to her. He nervously glanced left and right, feeling out of place. Her daughter looked at both of them. Her cheek was swollen already.

Tsunade threw an insult at her mother, loud enough for everyone to hear, and ran off. Her mother apologized to everyone.

Jiraiya noticed that Chiyome was bleeding. But the Hyuuga clan head standing next to her intimidated him. He didn't dare speak to her. So he quietly left and went after Tsunade.

Hiruzen had observed the brawl, a smile on his face. His eyes had been on Jiraiya, Tsunade and Chiyome all evening long, the two girls in particular. "Those three", he said to Danzo. "Those are my students from tomorrow onwards."

"The troublemakers?" Danzo scoffed. "But I can understand why you'd want to teach Tsunade. She's Lord Hashirama's granddaughter after all. And Chiyome… Akari's daughter. Two promising girls. But why that white-haired boy? He doesn't even belong to a clan. And I've seen his records."

Hiruzen filled his pipe. Smoking had become a habit of his since he'd received the title of Hokage. "His records are exactly the reason. I can't just take all the best students, can I? People would start talking. But I believe he's talented. He might just need someone to point him in the right direction."

Orochimaru was standing next to Danzo. It was the first time he was at the Ninja Academy. Their relationship had constantly evolved throughout the years. First Danzo had treated him as a servant, someone who was allowed to stay at his house in return for domestic labour. But over the time he'd learned that the boy was too smart to only ever do dishes and wipe the floor.

His parents had taught him basic ninja skills. It hadn't been much, and without proper training, Hiruzen and Danzo both thought him to forget about those again. But Orochimaru didn't. On the contrary, he kept learning, simply by observing Danzo and the shinobi around him.

"These students here are all celebrating because they passed their final examination, is that correct?" Orochimaru asked Danzo. "I wish I could take those exams as well. I would like to see how I match up against those two girls." He had followed the Hokage's glance and listened to their talk about Chiyome and Tsunade. They were both tied at the top, with Chiyome having a slightly better score in the theoretical parts and Tsunade in the practical ones. The Hokage had spoken many words of praise about the two to Danzo, right until Tsunade decided to show her skills to everyone and beat up her classmates in front of them.

"There is no need for you to take those tests," Danzo told him. His voice was monotone, but not exactly cold. He'd stopped being cold towards the boy a long time ago.

Hiruzen smiled again as an idea crawled up on him. "Why not? If Orochimaru wants to become a shinobi, we should not forbid him." He wasn't exactly sure whether Orochimaru hated him or not. After all, Hiruzen had been the one who killed his mother, after she had killed Sarutobi, who had killed her husband. He was aware that he now formed the next link in the chain of revenge. But Hiruzen didn't even know whether Danzo told the boy about the circumstances of his mother's death.

And it also didn't matter. The Hokage had long decided to give the boy a chance.

* * *

Chiyome, Tsunade and Jiraiya were still sitting in their former classroom. Everyone else was already gone, but their teacher had yet to arrive to pick them up.

"That's it, guys. We are the loser team," Jiraiya said. Secretly he was relieved that he'd been put on a team with Chiyome and Tsunade. After all, they had helped him study. He'd thought of them as spoiled clan heiresses, but after the examination celebration, he slowly realised that maybe he'd been wrong, that not every clan's child lived the perfect life.

Tsunade was sitting on the teacher's desk, arms crossed in front of her. She was in a visibly bad mood.

"We are the Genin no one wanted," Jiraiya kept going. "The fisher boy, a bastard and a fallen princess."

He was mostly joking, but Tsunade was not in the mood for it. She jumped up and grabbed his collar. "One more word and I'll make sure to give you a second black eye."

Only now did Jiraiya realise that Tsunade looked perfectly fine. She'd had a swollen cheek the night before, and he'd expected she'd look much worse than him the next day. Yet he was the only one in the room who'd taken visible damage from their little brawl.

"Don't fight, please," Chiyome said. "I'm sure our teacher will come soon."

Tsunade let go of him and turned away.

Jiraiya frowned after her. "I was only joking, okay? No need to become a shrew right away."

"A shrew?" She whirled around to him again.

Before they could raise their fists at each other, Chiyome grabbed both their hands, hoping it would stop them from fighting.

Tsunade bit her lips. "I'm still a Senju. I'm still the First Hokage's granddaughter and my father's daughter," she said. Her voice was weaker than it usually was, like she didn't only try to convince Jiraiya, but herself as well.

"Come on, are you getting this insecure over some idiots? I don't get all this clan talk, but I can see it when people talk shit."

Tsunade's head sank. Chiyome was still holding onto both of them. One link was missing to form a circle.

"And what if they are not talking shit?" Tsunade continued. "Some weird uncle of mine is our clan head. The Third Hokage is not a Senju but a Sarutobi. And my mother is seeing a stupid woodcutter. I'm just a normal girl now. No one calls me Princess Tsunade anymore."

Jiraiya moaned in annoyance. "What is it with you girls and being princesses? Who cares."

"It's not about being a princess," she protested. "It's about… about being myself!"

"Being yourself? I'd say that's overrated as well. Look at me, I'm a fisherman's son. You think I wanna sell stupid fish all day? But it's who I am. Can't change that, so stop whining."

For a moment, Chiyome thought they would both pull away from her and continue fighting, so she quickly said, "I think we can be whoever we want to be." To her surprise, she immediately had the attention of both of them. "I mean, if you don't want to sell fish, then just stop doing it."

Jiraiya was ready to laugh at her childish naivety again. But she wasn't done talking yet.

"You are a shinobi now. You passed the exams, so you are a shinobi. You changed who you are. And Tsunade is still the Hokage's granddaughter, just like I am still my mama's daughter. That doesn't change. But we can still become who we want to be."

They weren't too convinced, but at least they'd stopped fighting again.

"If you want, I can call you Princess Tsunade," Chiyome offered.

"No!" Tsunade immediately said. "That's not what I meant."

"So you think I can be a legendary shinobi one day? So legendary that everyone in the country knows my name? Cause that's who I want to be," Jiraiya asked her in a joking manner, as if he didn't believe his words himself.

But Chiyome smiled and nodded. "Yes! I do," she said wholly convinced.

A warm feeling spread inside of Jiraiya. He only realised that he was staring at her when Tsunade kicked his foot and showed him a big grin.

The door opened and someone entered. It was the Hokage.

The three Genin already expected him to tell them that their teacher wasn't coming, or worse, that they would not get to be Genin after all, as a punishment for starting a fight the night prior.

The Hokage apologised for being late. "We got a fourth teammate today, so I still had to fill out some paperwork." He wasn't wearing the white Hokage robes, but a black training suit.

"We?" Tsunade asked.

"Fourth teammate?" Jiraiya wondered.

Hiruzen walked up to them, and Orochimaru stepped next to him.

"This is Orochimaru. He only took the exams this morning and passed. He'll be on our team from now on." Orochimaru somewhat shyly nodded at them. "And I am your sensei. Nice to meet you all. I hope we'll work well together."

He smiled at them, but his Genin only stared back at him with open mouths.

"You are our sensei?!" Jiraiya eventually blurted out.

Hiruzen nodded. It left Jiraiya speechless.

"You weren't at the Academy," Tsunade noted, looking at Orochimaru. "In fact, I've never seen you around here. Who are you?"

"I'm Orochimaru."

"I know that, I mean… who are your parents? Are you from a clan?"

Orochimaru considered her question for a moment. "My parents were…."

"We allowed Orochimaru to take the Academy exams and he passed with a full score. So we made an exception and made him a Genin straight away," Hiruzen explained for him. "He never received any ninja training at the Academy and still passed. That's quite remarkable, isn't it?"

Jiraiya instantly disliked Orochimaru. He'd worked for years to get through the Academy, had done semesters twice. It wasn't fair that Orochimaru was given a free pass. It wasn't fair that this boy could just pass an exam without even attending the classes.

"I've heard you three talking of becoming a legendary shinobi right now," Hiruzen said. He could see Jiraiya blushing at his words. "Why don't we all go and have lunch together? You can tell me a bit about yourself. I want to get to know you better. I'll also pay, of course."

The five of them left the Academy and went into town together. On their way, Hiruzen asked them about their dreams and goals in life.

"A legendary shinobi!" Jiraiya decided to be the first to speak. It took him a bit of courage, but eventually, he continued, "I want to be so strong that everyone respects me. Famous."

Somehow, he expected them to laugh at his dream. But no one did.

"That's a good goal," his new teacher agreed instead.

Jiraiya was relieved that he'd shared. The day before, he'd felt that becoming a good shinobi was far out of his reach, that he'd never make it. But now, he could feel a wave of energy brush over him. He wanted to try. He wanted to succeed. He was the student of the Hokage.

"What about you, Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked as they entered a ramen shop on Konoha's main street.

Tsunade took a moment to think about it and sat down next to Chiyome. "Hmm... " She kept considering. The girl had a lot of wishes. A lot of things she wanted, and even more things she did not want. When she finally decided, she said, "Hokage. I want to become Hokage." She grabbed the chopsticks and rammed them onto the table. "I'll become the next Hokage and shut up all those little worms. I'll show them. I'll take the title of Hokage back to where it belongs, my clan!"

She let the chopsticks fall and slowly turned her head to her teacher. "I mean, I don't mean you are a bad Hokage, Lord Third. I'm glad you are Hokage, really! I just, I mean…"

Hiruzen laughed. "It's fine, I know what you mean. But don't call me Lord Third. I'm your teacher from now on, so it's Hiruzen-sensei." Everyone ordered a cup of noodles. "What's your dream, Chiyome?"

"I want to be a good daughter," she said without thinking about it. "I want my mother to be proud of me."

A sad smile formed on Hiruzen's lips. "I don't think that's a good dream to have. Because your mother is already proud of you. I'm sure about that. Isn't there something you want to achieve for yourself?"

"Then… I want to make the world a better place. I don't want people to be sad anymore. Or mean." She glanced at Tsunade. "The Hokage can change things, right? So maybe I'll become Hokage too."

"Come up with your own goal!" Tsunade complained.

Hiruzen chuckled at his students. He was certain they'd be good students. He liked their dynamic. "And you, Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru was a quiet child. He never spoke unless directly asked a question. He reminded Hiruzen of Danzo.

"I don't have a dream," Orochimaru said.

Hiruzen tried to encourage him some more to come up with something, but Orochimaru couldn't think of anything.

The ramen was served, and Team Hiruzen shared their first meal together.

* * *

Chiyome was in a good mood when she was on her way home. She'd already been to her mother's grave to tell her of the news, and was now running down the forest path leading to their compound, excited to see her uncle and tell him all about her new team and the fact that the Hokage was her teacher. She knew he'd be proud. Everyone wanted the Hokage as their sensei.

But when she walked through the shinto gate that marked the entrance to the compound, she could tell that something was wrong. A large group of adults stood in front of the main villa together with her uncle. Many of them headed out, fully equipped with shinobi wear and weapons.

She walked over. Haruto saw her approach, but he barely paid any attention to her.

"We have to find her," she heard someone say. "She can't be far yet," another said.

"What happened?" Chiyome asked.

Her uncle didn't tell her, only said she should go inside.

It dulled her mood. But she'd wanted to visit Sakumo and Riku anyway. And she was sure that those two would be excited for her.

"I can't believe Fuso ran away with an Uchiha man. It's a disgrace!" she heard her aunt's voice from the living room as she was on her way to her room. She stopped, and listened for just a moment longer. "And having the audacity to steal the sealing scroll. She'll regret that once they caught her."

Chiyome continued down the hallway. She didn't understand what scroll they were talking about, or where her aunt had gone.

But after that day, Chiyome never saw her aunt Fuso again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Surprise, I'm alive (and the story too). I reeeally wanted to upload earlier, but life is so busy right now :(
> 
> But here it is - the next chapter! From now on, the story should focus much more on Chiyome and Team Hiruzen. It had actually been my plan from the start to mostly make this about Chiyome, the future-Sannin and the 2nd and 3rd war. So I guess there's still a lot ahead of us. Taking it a bit slower after all the stuff that happened in the last few chapters and want to focus a bit more on relationship building for now. I guess poor Chiyome (and everyone else on her team) could use some more friends :D
> 
> So yeah, thank you for sticking around and all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)


End file.
